June 19, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1424

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NEW DELHI, June 18: Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani was quoted on Wednesday as accepting the inevitability of a compromise on the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan.

“After all if you disagree so sharply on an issue as India and Pakistan disagree on the question of Jammu and Kashmir and if a settlement has to come about then it can only be in the form of some compromise in which both sides have to give and take in relation to their present positions,” Mr Advani told The Guardian in London.

The Press Trust of India, which carried excerpts of the interview, quoted the report as saying the Indian government has offered open-ended talks with Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir if Pakistan ended its “proxy terrorist war” against India.

“If the killing of innocents stops ... we will find a solution for everything once we start talking,” Mr Advani said.

The newspaper said in the same report that the United States would sanction exports of sensitive military hardware if India responded positively by supplying manpower for nation-building in Iraq under a “deal” struck between the two countries.

“Reports from the US suggest a deal between India and the US that would see America sanction exports of sensitive military hardware, if India responded positively by supplying manpower for nation-building in Iraq,” The Guardian said.

Mr Advani told reporters in London that India would take a decision on deploying troops after getting clarifications from the American team currently in India.