Islamabad hails Singh's response to Musharraf's Kashmir proposals

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz yesterday welcomed his Indian counterpart's "positive" reaction to Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's four-point formula for resolving the thorny Kashmir dispute.

Addressing the inaugural session of a conference here on All India Muslim League, Aziz said Pakistan wanted resolution of issues with India across the table.

The Indian prime minister said on Saturday he welcomed all new ideas that could help resolve the Kashmir dispute and that New Delhi had been engaged in an intensive dialogue with Pakistan during his two and a half years in office.

Aziz said the map of Pakistan shows Kashmir as a disputed territory and that Pakistan had never claimed the territory to be its part.

He said the Kashmiri leadership, Pakistan and India would have to work together to find a solution to the festering issue in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir.

Musharraf, in an interview to Indian NDTV earlier this month, said if India accepted Pakistan's proposals he would be ready to give up claim on Kashmir, meaning that Pakistan would leave its traditional stand. Later foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said Pakistan had never claimed Kashmir to be its integral part. The statements drew mixed reaction in the country. Most religious parties interpreted the statements as a U-turn in Kashmir policy, which the government denied saying there would be no reciprocal flexibility on the issue and that there had been no change in the country's position on Kashmir based on UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite.

Some independent analysts were of the view the statements indicated there had been some progress in the behind-the-scenes diplomatic contacts between the two countries and that an effort was being made to mould the public opinion.

Four-point formula

In his address to the conference, Aziz said that certain religious parties had opposed the creation of Pakistan but today the country was a nuclear power and it was marching ahead on the road to progress and prosperity under the leadership of President Musharraf.

Musharraf's four-point formula envisages free movement across the dividing Line of Control in Kashmir, self-governance, phased withdrawal of troops and a joint supervision mechanism involving India, Pakistan and Kashmir.