16 October 2004	Saturday	01 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Oct 15: Former Indian prime minister I.K. Gujral expressed here on Friday his satisfaction over the continuation of the peace process between Pakistan and India and hoped that ultimately it would end on a happy note.

Speaking at a Meet-the-Press Programme of the Lahore Press Club here, Mr Gujral said he could not guess as to when the process would be completed. It was lengthy, having patches of hope and frustration but the good thing was that it was continuing, he said while quoting a verse by Ghalib to drive his point home.

"I have the feeling that the recent meeting between the Indian prime minister and the Pakistani president in the US has carried the process forward. President Musharraf has then promised to the Indian prime minister that he would think over a solution and now we are waiting for it," he said.

Mr Gujral said he was happy that both the countries were now seeing the light of wisdom. The peace process had its own value and should, therefore, be continued, he said, adding relations between the two countries were much better now.

He said he was neither the present prime minister of India nor did he belong to the ruling or any other political party and, therefore, could not describe the Indian government's response to the talks.

"My opinion as a common South Asian citizen is that the process which I had started as prime minister should continue. I am still for the dialogue and do believe that all the differences should have to be resolved through negotiations," Mr Gujral said.

He rejected the idea that America was making India and Pakistan talk to each other, saying they were sovereign countries and were advancing the peace process while guarding their respective interests.

KASHMIR ISSUE: Mr Gujral rejected a third-party mediation for the resolution of Kashmir dispute. And while replying to a question about the grant of right of self-determination to Kashmiris said he was against the dismemberment of any country because it was not in the interest of the South Asian region.

Asked whether the UN could mediate between both the countries, he said it too was not an impartial third party. "On one occasion I had told the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif that according to the sub-continent's history third parties had always exploited differences between two states whenever invited to broker peace between them," he said.

He said he believed that God would resolve the dispute one day. The resolution should be acceptable to both Pakistan and India and their peoples, he clarified his point of view. When asked as to why he was not including Kashmiris in the process, he said they too were South Asians and the resolution should be acceptable to them all.

When asked the persecution of Kashmiris by Indian military, Mr Gujral said he had never seen any ideal human rights conditions anywhere in the world. "It is also the same here (Pakistan) and there (India) and we are still finding an ideal condition of the human rights," he said.

He said killing of people anywhere in the world like Pakistan, the Punjab, India, Kashmir or Iraq was bad. When asked whether it was possible to restore peace without ending the race of building war machinery by Pakistan and India, Mr Gujral said he never knew what should come first. But, definitely having a huge defence budget was not in the interest of their people who were facing poverty and backwardness.

He said his comment about President Musharraf would be irrelevant and those of Pakistanis relevant when asked whether the peace process between the two countries would be over after his (the president's) departure.

Replying to another question whether a military or a democratic government could resolve differences with India, Mr Gujral said he was for democracy. "You do whatever you like in your country and we are doing what we like for ours," he said.

He said the people-to-people contact had helped create an atmosphere of friendship between the two countries. It had established that human beings lived on both sides of the border and they did have their own aspirations.

Mr Gujral termed the anti-Muslim riots in Indian Gujarat a blot on Indian society. Those who were behind this sorry episode had been rejected by the people in the last held elections, he said.

He said Mr Nawaz Sharif was in favour of friendship between the peoples of both the countries. "I off-and-on talk to him on telephone," he said while parrying a question whether the former prime minister had ever discussed with him his political problems.