Offer of adjusting LoC to top Manmohan-Musharraf meeting

Will Prime Minister Manmohan Singh place an offer to "adjust" the Line of Control "by a matter of miles" eastwards on the table when he meets President General Pervez Musharraf in New York on September 24? Time magazine in its forthcoming issue has quoted a senior Indian official as saying that this offer will be made as a result of Dr Singh's instructions to his foreign affairs team to "think out of the box" on Kashmir and "get a solution, and soon."

The news magazine claims that a senior Musharraf aide has also confirmed that a "territorial adjustment is one idea being broached" and that "in the past, as in the present, we have shown interest." The idea of territorial changes along the LoC had been mooted by the Kashmir Study Group complete with maps where the transfer of Muslim dominated areas such as Rajouri, Doda and Poonch to Pakistan controlled Kashmir had been suggested.

The Time article does not shed light on the exact nature of the proposal, indicating, however, that this had been under discussion for months by both the National Democratic Alliance and the United Progressive Alliance government.

The PM has been interviewed by Time deputy editor William Green and South Asia Bureau Chief Alex Perry.

Perry confirmed that the Indian official had referred specifically to the one proposal involving territorial changes and not a bunch of proposals at the Manmohan-Musharraf meet. Manmohan said in a reference to the meeting, "Getting to know each other is important. But we are willing to discuss all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, and find solutions rooted in ground realities." The senior Musharraf aide quoted in the article said, "We want to make things happen there (New York). We want implementable ideas. We have spoken to the Indians on this score, and hopefully the meeting will break new ground on Kashmir."

National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit and President Musharraf's special emissary Tariq Aziz have had several rounds of secret talks with reports suggesting New Delhi, Amritsar and even Dubai as the meeting places in a style reminiscent of the Jaswant Singh-Strobe Talbott dialogue.

- The Asian Age