02 March 2004	Tuesday	10 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD, March 1: Important military and civilian quarters as well as Kashmiri leadership have advised the government to compel India to immediately "start discussion" on Kashmir at a higher level as enough confidence building measures (CBMs) had been taken during the last many months.

Knowledgeable sources told Dawn here on Saturday that there was a "growing rethinking" that India was buying time just to delay formal discussion on Kashmir.

They said it was unwise to give six months to start taking up the core issue at the foreign ministers level and strongly urged President Pervez Musharraf to do some thing particularly by taking into confidence important stackholders including Kashmiris.

"We need to adopt a cautious approach while dealing with India as we don't want breakdown in talks by hurrying up any thing," said an official source. However, he said genuine concerns of Kashmiris and important military and civilian quarters perhaps needed to be allayed.

Former Azad Kashmir president Sardar Abdul Qayyum when contacted said Pakistan was fast loosing options to have any solution of Kashmir by allowing India to continue delaying formal discussion on hard issues.

"I very honestly believe that things are getting out of our hands and Gen Musharraf must do something before it is too late", he warned. He called for mobilising the diplomatic community to force India to start discussion on Kashmir without wasting time. "But personally I am not very optimistic that India would concede anything, and whenever there is any solution of Kashmir, it would be on India's terms," he claimed.

The former president said he was likely to meet President Musharraf shortly and tell him clearly that Pakistan would not get anything by prolonging talks between the two countries.

"I would also urge the president to make up his mind about various so-called solutions of Kashmir that are currently being discussed both in and outside Pakistan," he said. He said India was buying time to completely crush the freedom movement.

Its proof was that despite assurances, there was no reduction in 700,000 Indian military troops stationed in the occupied valley, he explained. "I feel as if we are waiting for Indians to kill every Kashmiri fighter," he said, regretting that while India was committing gross human rights violations in Kashmir, Pakistanis were wasting time in holding a composite dialogue.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) convenor Farooq Rehmani told this reporter that Kashmiris were perturbed over the growing repression in Kashmir. Islamabad, he said, must review its policy towards India. Mr Rehmani agreed with Sardar Qayyum that India was buying time.