India decides to take control of Kashmir related issues – repulses Pakistan’s pressure in talk
Anil Rane
Sep. 15, 2005

India finally took control of Kashmir related issues. Prime Minister of India told President of Pakistan in straight words – unless terror tactics are withdrawn there will be no more compromise from Indian side.

According to media reports, during discussions marked by "frankness and candour", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has made it clear to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, that reduction of troops in the Kashmir valley was ruled out till acts of terror and violence, which cast a "shadow" over the Indo-Pak peace process, continued.

The soft-spoken Indian leader and the Pakistani General talked for nearly four hours well past midnight in a New York hotel about Kashmir, terrorism, cricket, cultural affinities and the whole gamut of bilateral ties while a rainstorm lashed this metropolis. Scores of Indian and Pakistani journalists, nearly strip searched before being allowed into Hotel New York Palace, were not permitted to ask questions of the two leaders.

The four-para joint statement issued by them after the marathon discussions, which continued over a dinner hosted by Singh, was couched in generalities and hardly reflected the candour on both sides. But the bottom line was that the dialogue process must be persevered with.

Of late, Musharraf has been seeking pullout of troops from Baramulla and Kupwara in the valley, a demand he had conveyed to US President George W Bush two days ago. He mentioned this during the talks with Singh without listing specific areas for the withdrawal.

In the current scenario the Indian Prime Minister is not receptive to the proposal and candidly told Musharraf that it was not possible to think of troop reduction till terrorism persisted. "It is the responsibility of the government to maintain safety and security of the people," he emphasised.

Any withdrawal, Singh told Musharraf, would be decided by the Indian government based on its assessment of the ground situation. Such assessment was dependent upon elimination of terrorism and violence.

The Indian leader told his guest that continued acts of violence did "cast a shadow" over the peace process to which both of them were committed. "The Prime Minister very categorically and clearly put across the standpoint that while we are committed to the dialogue process the continued acts of violence and terrorism...., if these acts are not ended, then it does cast a shadow over our ability to take the peace process forward," Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, told reporters.

Musharraf, who had promised on July 19 in a telephone call to Singh that he would rein in militant groups fomenting violence in Kashmir within a month, on his part assured the Prime Minister that he would do everything to allay India's apprehensions.

The Indian side was not happy with Musharraf's reference to Kashmir in his address to the United Nations yesterday when he had said that the two nations must not remain trapped by hate and history in a cycle of confrontation and conflict. For this to happen it was essential to find a just solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute acceptable to Pakistan, India and to the people of Kashmir, he had said.

Told during the talks that such a reference "goes back to the kind of days we had put behind", Musharraf responded by saying that it was not his intention to create a "negative setting" for the dinner meeting but he had to state issues of importance to Pakistan. Both leaders agreed that they needed to be sensitive to the public opinion in their countries.

In his address to the United Nations on Thursday morning, the Prime Minister urged the international community not to yield any space to terrorism. On its part, India "shall never succumb to or compromise with terror in Jammu and Kashmir or elsewhere", he asserted.

In Saran's words Singh-Musharraf discussions were marked by "a considerable amount of frankness and candour but in the spirit of taking our relationship forward" and that, he emphasised, is the bottom line. The dinner conversation was very relaxed and very pleasant.

The two leaders talked about Kashmir-specific measures which had been agreed to when they met last year. They would continue to look at various options on this issue in a very sincere and purposeful manner.

Answering a question about the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Saran said there had been a spurt in violence in June and July and there was a certain ebb and flow in the violence. "Frankly over a period of time we see certain trends emerging how do you come to any conclusion," he asked.

The initial discussions between the two leaders lasted nearly two hours and continued over dinner.

It had been indicated that Singh and Musharraf would field questions from reporters who stood on tired legs for nearly five hours but in the end had to settle for the 4-para joint statement read out by Musharraf in the presence of his host.

A Pakistani journalist was invited to pose a question which he did by asking Singh about his statement that borders could not be redrawn. The Indian leader confined his response to stating that the joint statement contained everything. That was the end of the media interaction although the General appeared to be willing to take questions.

In the joint statement, the two leaders referred to their earlier statements of January 6, 2004 and April 18, 2005 and reiterated their pledge that they would not allow terrorism to impede the peace process.

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