Cool Indian response to Kashmir 'options': 'Negotiation through media of no use'
By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, Oct 26: India told Pakistan on Tuesday it was ready to discuss President Gen Pervez Musharraf's latest proposals on Kashmir as part of their ongoing composite dialogue but it also said no good would come of conducting the talks through the media.
While the official Indian response to Gen Musharraf's proposals appeared to be restrained and mild, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party rejected any move that would compromise India's 'sovereignty' over Kashmir.
The ruling Congress Party's representative in Jammu and Kashmir also ruled out any discussion that would question what New Delhi claims to be a legitimate accession by Jammu and Kashmir to India in 1947. There was no formal comment from the party's leadership in New Delhi and this was noted by the BJP.
India's foreign ministry spokesman did not name Gen Musharraf, but said: "We have heard these comments. We do not believe that Jammu and Kashmir is a subject on which discussion can be held through the media. So, if there are any proposals, suggestions regarding that, that (composite dialogue) is the forum we expect they will be brought to".
New Delhi has often enough told Islamabad that the issue of autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir was a matter of internal debate and discussion within India and that there was no question of change of external status of the territory.
President Musharraf had suggested that India and Pakistan could consider the option of identifying some 'regions' of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control, demilitarize them and grant them the status of independence or joint control or under the United Nations mandate.
"Gen Musharraf's propositions are being viewed here as indicative of a realization on Pakistan's part that the position held by it hitherto on Jammu and Kashmir are neither sustainable nor practicable," officially-backed Press Trust of India said.
"It is felt that there still remained considerable distance to go before a realistic solution is possible. The Pakistan president's remarks are also not in tune with the observation made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their meeting in New York last month that any solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue cannot be based on redrawing of boundaries or another partition," PTI said.
Speaking for the Bharatiya Janata Party, former foreign minister Jaswant Singh said any suggestion for the transfer of sovereignty or territory was "totally unacceptable".
Mr Jaswant Singh said: "We are intrigued by the continued silence of the Congress Party and the government on Gen Musharraf's statement.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance have consistently held that map making has to stop in South Asia. It would not be acceptable in any disguise it might appear and present itself."
For the BJP "nothing is acceptable that overrides the will of parliament. Any suggestion for transfer of sovereignty or transfer of territory is a non-starter. We cannot accept a third party".
Mr Jaswant Singh was apparently referring to a parliamentary resolution from the Narasimha Rao period which had declared retrieving "Pakistan-occupied Kashmir" as the only dispute over the Himalayan region.
The BJP leader said while his party was in favour of improving India-Pakistan ties and resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, "such suggestions on transfer of sovereignty would not take the talks forward".
