NEW DELHI, Sept 20: When they meet in New York on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will offer President Gen Pervez Musharraf a plan to adjust the Line of Control by a few miles , the latest issue of the Time magazine was quoted on Monday as saying.
According to the report, excerpted by the Press Trust of India, Dr Singh has expressed India's willingness to find solutions 'rooted in ground realities' to all outstanding issues with Pakistan, including Jammu and Kashmir.
The magazine quotes an unnamed senior Indian official as saying that New Delhi was willing to 'adjust' the Line of Control 'by a matter of miles eastwards', PTI said.
However, a foreign ministry spokesman accompanying Prime Minister Singh on his visit to Britain and the United States denied any move to offer an adjustment of the LoC. "We have seen an item suggesting that the prime minister will offer to 'adjust' the Line of Control by a couple of miles eastwards as part of an offer to help defuse the situation in Kashmir. This is completely and wholly inaccurate," said the spokesman in a message from London.
The American weekly, which has put the new Indian prime minister on its cover in its latest issue, quotes him as saying about his meeting with President Musharraf that "getting to know each other is important. But we are willing to discuss all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, and find solutions rooted in ground realities".
It quoted the unnamed Indian official as saying that in New York Dr Singh would make an offer to help defuse the situation in Kashmir. A part of this offer involves adjusting the LoC 'by a matter of miles' eastwards.
The official told Time that its formal presentation in New York was a result of Singh's 'instruction' that his foreign affairs team should think 'out of the box' on Kashmir 'to get a solution, and soon'.
The magazine said a senior Musharraf aide confirmed that "territorial adjustment...is one idea being broached" and that it was an idea in which "in the past, as in the present, we have shown interest".
It quoted a senior Pakistan foreign affairs official as saying that "we want implementable ideas. We have spoken to the Indians on this score and hopefully the meeting will break new ground in Kashmiri diplomacy".
