| Though most of his countrymen are. |
NEW DELHI — The new proposal floated by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to settle the much contentious Jammu and Kashmir issue is apparently in agreement with India's out-of-the-box suggestion to resolve the issue, as New Delhi has informally suggested the idea of having a soft border time and again. If India agrees to the proposal by any means, albeit with some changes, then both India and Pakistan would guarantee autonomy and not full independence to Jammu and Kashmir. Though India yesterday had a guarded response to the proposal, President Musharraf's offer to identify parts on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), demilitarise and grant them the independent status or administer under joint control or UN mandate is not far from reality. The latest offer has come at the time of the progressively moving Indo-Pak peace overtures that aims at finding an enduring solution to the Kashmir stalemate. Also it is at the time when both New Delhi and Islamabad are presently carrying out back-channel negotiations to find out a formula that can be agreed upon to both the nuclear rivals. It is believed that to both the countries it will not matter much even if there is a slight modification in the existing maps of Kashmir.
Considering the fact that neither of them would be ready to let Jammu and Kashmir slip out of hands, as it would have adverse political fallout in both the countries, top officials in the ministry of external affairs confirmed that India and Pakistan are in the process of finding a formula that can be a permanent answer to the longstanding dispute that made both countries battle out three hostilities. Pakistan National Security Council Secretary Tariq Aziz had held such consultations with National Security Advisor J. N. Dixit and one such meeting got leaked in a section of the Press recently. "First, we have to study the implications of making the LoC an international border. It is easier said than done as lot of changes would be mandatory," said officials. |