President Pervez Musharraf seized the initiative at the end of a landmark Indo-Pakistan summit here Monday, telling his Indian hosts that only a resolution of their Kashmir dispute could end 50 years of acrimony.
In an eloquent and passionate speech to Indian news editors before his third round of summit talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Musharraf proposed a three-step process mechanism -- with Kashmir at the core -- for moving towards the full normalisation of relations.
"Let us not remain under any illusion that the main issue confronting us is Kashmir," the Pakistani military leader said.
"I will carry on saying it whether anyone agrees or not, because this is what we have killed each other for," he added.
India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since the partition of the sub-continent in 1947 -- two of them over Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries and claimed by both.
Following their third round of talks, General Musharraf and Vajpayee left it to their foreign ministers to thrash out a joint declaration that could be signed by the two leaders at a final meeting.
The Pakistani leader delayed his scheduled departure for the northern city of Ajmer to give both sides enough time to agree on a mutually acceptable formula.
In his meeting with the news editors, Musharraf accused India of ignoring reality by refusing to accept the Kashmir dispute as the core issue dividing the two sides
"I do not believe in living in a make-believe world. We must confront realities as they are, not brush them under the carpet or, like an ostrich, live in our own world."
At the same time, he insisted that he was willing to discuss all other issues of bilateral concern -- as long as there was progress on Kashmir.
"I have sought two wars... I've been in the front... I know what it is when one fights," the general said.
"What I have learnt is... never close the door shut, ever, on diplomacy . We must always continue with this process of dialogue... which has been extremely fruitful."
The first day of summit talks on Sunday had been described as "frank, cordial and constructive" and Vajpayee had accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan later in the year.
Musharraf proposed that the summit -- the first in more than two years between the nuclear-capable South Asian rivals -- be taken as the beginning of a three-step mechanism for improving relations.
"Step two is the acceptance of Kashmir as the main issue that must be resolved," Musharraf said.
Step three would be to look at all possible solutions to the Kashmir problem and agree on which ones could be mutually discarded as unworkable.
"Having done that, we would have a come a little way and can go on to further discussions," he said.
A Muslim separatist insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which New Delhi alleges is sponsored by Pakistan in the form of a "proxy war", has claimed at least 35,000 lives since its launch in 1989.
Pakistan, which puts the death toll at 70,000, denies the charges of "cross-border terrorism" but extends open moral and diplomatic support to what it describes as the Kashmiris' right to self-determination.
In Kashmir, police officials said Monday that 31 people had been killed in fresh separatist-linked violence, pushing the death toll since the start of the Agra summit to more than 60.
Informed Pakistani sources said the draft joint declaration being fine-tuned by senior officials from both sides was a two-page document containing nine points.
While acknowledging Indian "compulsions" to broaden the focus away from Kashmir, Musharraf stressed that he and Pakistan were equally compelled to keep it as the core issue.
"If India expects I should ignore Kashmir then I had better buy back the Neharwali Haveli (his childhood home in Delhi) and stay there," he said -- AGRA, India (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
