Peace move irreversible, say India and Pakistan

The leaders of India and Pakistan capped a successful three-day visit by Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf by announcing that the peace process was "irreversible".

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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reading out a joint statement next to Musharraf, said the two leaders, "conscious of the historic opportunity created by the improved relations and the overwhelming desire of the peoples of the two countries for durable peace ... determined that the peace process was now irreversible".

In fact, the Pakistani leader told newspaper editors in New Delhi earlier in the day that while progress in the talks had exceeded expectations, Kashmir remained a flashpoint.

He, however, warned that, "unless we resolve the dispute it can erupt again in a future time under a different leadership".

But India may have made a tiny concession when it put its seal of approval on dialogue on Kashmir.

Singh said significantly the two leaders agreed to continue discussions on the issue in a "sincere, purposeful and forward looking manner for a final settlement".

In turn, Pakistan roundly condemned attempts to disrupt the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and "pledged they would not allow terrorism to impede the peace process".

India incorporated the paragraph that threatened to scuttle the summit, and which had caused both delegations to work on the draft till late Sunday night.

It reaffirmed the commitment made in the joint statement of January 6, 2004 in Islamabad, and the statement in New York in September that Pakistan would not allow attacks on India from its own soil.

The other major success of the mini-summit was the decision to further open up the heavily militarised frontier dividing Kashmir.

The two leaders agreed to increase bus services between the divided parts of the Himalayan region and open the fenced and heavily guarded frontier to freight trucks and pilgrims.

Musharraf's visit which started as an invitation to watch Pakistan play cricket in India quickly developed into a timely review of the 14-month peace process.

Musharraf, on his first visit to India since 2001 when a summit with then premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee collapsed over Kashmir, remained upbeat about talks in New Delhi. He said the trip achieved more than he expected because of the "very flexible" approach shown by both sides.