July 1, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 30, 1424

SRINAGAR, June 30: Occupied Kashmir’s main opposition leader, sharing a rare podium with militants, charged on Monday that New Delhi had “sold” the Tibetan and Palestinian causes and that this did not bode well for Kashmiris.

Omar Abdullah, head of the National Conference party, criticized the Indian government for recognizing Tibet as an autonomous region of China during Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit last week.

“I dare say that if it suited them (the Indians) they would sell Jammu and Kashmir, the way recently they sold Tibet,” said Omar Abdullah, 33, whose long-ruling party was ousted in elections last year.

“We sold Palestine in our desire for friendship with Israel. We sacrificed 50 years of foreign policy of support to the Palestine cause,” he said, referring to New Delhi’s establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel in 1993 and subsequent warming ties.

“If it benefits (the) government of India they would sell Kashmir as well,” he said.

“But it won’t because after that it would not be able to sell itself as a secular country,” he added.

During Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit to China last week, India and China signed a joint declaration that included a phrase stating that the Tibet Autonomous Region was a part of China.

The phrase was interpreted in the media here and in China as a shift in the Indian position.

However, Mr Vajpayee and the Indian foreign office have claimed that there was no change in the Indian stand, which has remained the same for decades.

Mr Abdullah used to be a prominent spokesman for the Vajpayee government’s foreign policy, serving as junior foreign minister until the National Conference’s election debacle. He remains a member of the Indian parliament.

He said he would welcome US mediation on Kashmir, a move which has been repeatedly rejected by India.

“If the solution is being forced (by the United States) let it be,” he said. “They (India and Pakistan) have failed to resolve it bilaterally.”

Abdullah said a “viable solution” would be for occupied Kashmir to be autonomous within India.—AFP