Call for change in Kashmir status

"It is simple. Identify the region, demilitarise it and change its status," Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday, a day that also marked the completion of his five years in office.

In full army uniform, the president stated it was important for both India and Pakistan to drop their stated positions adding, "We are both presently on a maximalist course, if there has to be an agreement both sides have to step down."

President Musharraf said that it was also necessary now to merge Step 3 and 4 of the framework he had spelt out earlier. Step 3 as elaborated by him at several press interactions in the past was to eliminate all those options for a solution of Jammu and Kashmir that were not acceptable to either side, and focus on those that were left behind on the table. Step 4 was to begin discussing the different options.

He now said that it was necessary to merge the two for if 'Step 3 is taken in isolation all hell will break loose.'

The president indicated that a solution to the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus route appeared to be on the cards, and that details were being worked out.

He opined that the Kashmiri leaders should first meet with the Indian government leaders and then travel on the bus to Pakistan on its inaugural run.

Bus route

Indications from Islamabad point strongly towards the narrowing of differences between the two governments on the bus route with the president agreeing that it had captured the imagination of people on both sides.

President Musharraf also moved away from a time frame maintaining that he had never set a time limit.

"I knew that India had elections coming up, and the new government would take a few months to settle in," he pointed out.

But he made it clear that once both sides agreed to discuss a solution, a time frame was appended to the talks itself. "How many times can we keep discussing options, once, twice, six times, how much more can one discuss," he said pointing out that as far as he was concerned both India and Pakistan could easily resolve the issue within two to three days.

He said that if both governments were committed to discussing options seriously they could resolve the issue in a day's sitting, if they entered the dialogue with full preparation.

Time gaps

Musharraf also pointed out that he could not see the reason for unusually long time gaps, without any reason, between high level meetings.

"Why should the next meeting be after six months when there is no reason, we should keep meeting and taking the process forward," he said. He also added that it was important to make visible progress on Jammu and Kashmir on the ground.

Asked why he was in a hurry, Musharraf laughed and went on to explain that it was not that he was rushing matters but that the issue itself did not require too much time to resolve. He also explained that it was important for him to address the large sections of people who were highly suspicious of India's intent and were insistent that New Delhi was not going to move towards a solution on Jammu and Kashmir.

He also drew attention to the extremists who he said would be strengthened by delay in finding a solution.

The Asian Age