07 September 2004	Tuesday	21 Rajab 1425

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NEW DELHI, Sept 6: The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan ended a landmark meeting here on Monday, agreeing to intensify their search for durable peace in South Asia , and, while they aired their known differences on Kashmir, it was marked by a perceptible absence of rancour.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and his Indian counterpart Kunwar Natwar Singh addressed a joint news conference to round off two days of intense discussions on their composite dialogue, which includes the Kashmir dispute.

Later, Mr Kasuri met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Pakistan's High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan described the meeting as excellent with a fair spread of "good chemistry" between the prime minister and Mr Kasuri.

Mr Kasuri stressed his concern for human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Singh emphasized the need to curb cross-border terrorism, which New Delhi says has continued despite a promise made by President Gen Pervez Musharraf in January to check infiltrations across the Line of Control.

Both ministers hinted at a few fresh CBMs on Monday, which senior officials described as an important progress. Some of these and perhaps a few more announcements would be included in a joint statement scheduled to be released on Wednesday, when the foreign minister ends his official visit.

Mr Kasuri will spend much of Tuesday in Ajmer at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA). A helicopter has been made available to ferry him up and down. This was a schedule that Gen Musharraf could not keep during his visit in July 2001.

Foreign Secretary Riaz Khkokhar returned home on Monday, possibly to brief Gen Musharraf ahead of the joint statement. At a reception hosted by the high commissioner for Mr Kasuri, the foreign minister was seen in a huddle with Mr Natwar Singh and India's National Security Advisor Jyotindra Nath Dixit, going over the points that could possibly find their way into the awaited statement.

One key progress was the acceptance by India of a proposal to allow experts' level talks to be held to consider CBMs in the conventional capacities of their armed forces. This was considered more elusive than the nuclear CBMs which both sides agreed to easily.

A train service linking Khokrapar and Munabao will be taken up for urgent talks, while further discussions were scheduled to speed up the proposal for a bus service to link Srinagar and Muzaffarabad across the Line of Control.

In his opening statement at the news conference, Mr Singh said the two foreign ministers had reviewed overall progress in bilateral relations and the status of the composite dialogue.

"While we both are sincerely committed to carrying forward the composite dialogue, no one should lose sight of the wise dictum "diplomacy provides hope, not salvation," Mr Singh said.

"Even modest progress is worthy of respect. We have made progress in the past two days. My friend, Foreign Minister Kasuri, and I have established rapport and mutual trust," Mr Singh declared with Mr Kasuri nodding in approval.

"India is committed to deepen and widen its engagement with Pakistan in order to resolve all issues and to build a durable structure of peace and stability in South Asia free from an atmosphere of terrorism and violence," Mr Singh.

He said cross-border infiltration was a serious concern and it was conveyed to Mr Kasuri like that. "Significantly, the ceasefire has held since Nov 25, 2003, and both sides are committed to continuing it," Mr Singh said. The first round of the composite dialogue had been concluded successfully, he added.

Technical-level meeting would be held in October-November on the Munabao-Khokhrapar railway link. The Indian Coast Guards and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency will hold talks to discuss a memorandum of understanding for establishing communication links between them, Mr Singh said.

A biannual meeting between the Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers is also scheduled in October. "There would be meetings to discuss conventional and nuclear CBMs," the Indian minister revealed.

Joint survey of the boundary pillars in the horizontal segment of the International Boundary in the Sir Creek area, a special day-bus service on special occasions between Amritsar and religious places in Lahore such as Nankana Saheb, enhanced interaction and exchanges between the two foreign offices, including study groups of young diplomats to each other's country, were other measures agreed.

Mr Singh said he had accepted an invitation by Mr Kasuri to visit Pakistan. Mr Kasuri, on his part, wasted no time in signaling the crucial importance of the Kashmir dispute.

"We have reviewed progress in all the eight agenda items which were listed under the composite dialogue. Of course, he (Mr Singh) mentioned his concerns and I had to mention mine.

"I spoke of the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir. I suggested to him, as I would like to suggest to the entire international community, that regardless of the words that we use and the gloss that we put, we are all aware of what has been the cause of perpetual tension between our two countries and what has caused three wars between us, and a near-war in 2002. That was the issue of Jammu and Kashmir," Mr Kasuri said bluntly.

"I emphasized to His Excellency the Foreign Minister the centrality of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. I told him that we were not unifocal, that it is not that Pakistan is only interested in just discussing Jammu and Kashmir. No." Mr Kasuri accepted that Jammu and Kashmir was a complex but said it was not intractable.

"The dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, well, yes, these are complex problems. But they are not intractable. I do not believe that they are intractable. Given the political will they can be resolved and they should be resolved. And that is our major guarantee for durable peace in South Asia," the foreign minister said.

Speaking of areas where Pakistan and India can cooperate, Mr Kasuri said: "The fruits of cooperation will be greater, if we were to go along the lines that we have agreed upon and that is that whereas there are differences between Pakistan and India, we should be mature enough to recognize those, because that is the only guarantee that we will be able to solve those problems."

Mr Kasuri pointed to the few CBMs agreed upon and said: "A greater list will be published when on the 8th of this month, a joint statement will be issued by the two foreign ministers."

Both ministers agreed to speed up the reopening of the consulates in Mumbai and Karachi. Asked if and when the second round of the composite dialogue was likely to begin, Mr Singh said the foreign secretaries of both the countries would meet again in the month of December.

"Before that, the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singhji, and the President of Pakistan, Gen Musharaf Sahab, will meet in New York and there will be discussion on all issues.

There is difference of opinion on some issues because they are critical issues and old issues. But, this composite dialogue and the progress made on these many issues will continue," Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh said both sides had to make progress on all areas, "economic, political, communication, nuclear, visas, student exchanges, reopening of our houses in Karachi and in Bombay, also the pipeline, also the bus service from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad. On all these areas we have made progress."

Giving India's perspective on the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue, Mr Singh recalled that there was the Shimla Agreement, where paragraph 6 says that the Jammu Kashmir question will be discussed and settled peacefully to the satisfaction of both sides.

Then there were the Lahore talks and the Composite Dialogue decision taken on the 6th of January 2004, to guide the progress. Mr Kasuri said Pakistan was not imposing preconditions to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

"But it is a matter of pure common sense, it is a mater of historical experience that if we want to push, or if we wish to put our relations on an even keel, we will have to tackle with the issue of Jammu and Kashmir because, you know, sky is the limit once these two countries start cooperating," he said.

"In the past we have seen that there have been areas where we have reached pretty good level of relationship. And then, we have seen things when they have deteriorated to the extent of wars.

So, it is a matter of common sense, pure logic, that in order to ensure that there will be durable peace in South Asia, this issue would also be resolved hopefully sooner rather than later," Mr Kasuri said.

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