No more partition, says Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament that the government was willing to look at possible options for a "peaceful, negotiated settlement" of Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

But he said the settlement did not involve any re-drawing of boundaries or another partition of the country.

This effectively rules out the seven region formula of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf or a study group proposal that has been in discussion for several years now visualising the redrawing of boundaries.

Singh said that he had made it clear to Musharraf at their meeting in New York that "while we are willing to look at various options we would not agree to any redrawing of boundaries or another partition."

He said that the issue should be "explored in a sincere spirit and a purposeful manner."

The Prime Minister laid out the bottom line in parliament just days before the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet to kickstart the second round of the composite dialogue.

The clear cut statement also comes two weeks before a meeting between him at Musharraf on the sidelines of the Saarc summit at Dhaka.

Musharraf has been stressing on the need for "flexibility" and the Indian response to his seven region proposal for Jammu and Kashmir had evoked angry words from him at a news conference in Lahore.

He said that he would not pursue his offer of seeking a solution outside the UN resolutions and would go back to the demand for plebiscite if India did not show the flexibility to move outside stated positions.

The prime minister's statement leaves little room for doubt about the Indian position on Jammu and Kashmir where the government is willing to consider options without "compromising upon our basic national interest."

Singh said that the government intended to "pursue the path of cooperation with Pakistan in an atmosphere free of mistrust, building upon the support we have received from the people of the two countries."

He said that at the New York meeting he had "emphasised to Musharraf the criticality of his fulfilling the reassurance of January 6, 2004 that any territory under Pakistan's control would not be used to support terror in any manner."

- The Asian Age