December 6, 2003	Saturday	Shawwal 11, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: The International Crisis Group (ICG) maintains that despite the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC), the potential for yet another violent crisis between Pakistan and India looms large.

The ICG released its three new reports on Kashmir, two of which lay out the public and private positions of the Indian and Pakistani governments, their politicians and the media. The third report entitled ‘Kashmir: Learning from the Past’ examines the history of the crisis and evaluates past efforts to resolve it.

The reports suggest that all sides in the conflict will have to reconsider their current approaches if peace is to be achieved.

An earlier ICG report examined views from within the Kashmir Valley. Taken together, the series analyses the positions and looks at the constraints in terms of ending the conflict, as they are perceived on all sides.

“Mutual distrust and hostility remain high, and both countries’ substantive positions are rigid,” says Robert Templer, Director of the Asia Programme at ICG. “In the meantime, the Kashmiri people continue to be caught in the crossfire between the militants and the Indian security forces”.

As India approaches national elections in 2004, the BJP’s domestic constraints and sensitivities will also influence the directions and sustainability of the normalization process, says the report.

The report on the Indian perspective says that major terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir could derail the present dialogue, bringing both states back to square one.

Any viable solution to the Kashmir conflict will need to address not only the interests of India and Pakistan but also those of the Kashmiris themselves. In the context of Jammu and Kashmir, much depends, as in the past, on New Delhi and Srinagar’s political will and ability to redress Kashmiri political, economic and social grievances; respect human rights; and conduct a dialogue in earnest with all political forces in the state.

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