29 October 2004	Friday	14 Ramazan 1425

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KARACHI, Oct 28: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said on Thursday that Pakistan wanted a change in the status quo in Kashmir but would not undertake any 'unilateral flexibility' on the issue which should be addressed by injecting a "sense of ownership of the process" among the Kashmiris.

He was addressing a news conference on his return from Malaysia where he represented Pakistan on the Pakistan-Malaysia joint commission.

Defending Gen Pervez Musharraf's proposals, Mr Kasuri made it clear that "any flexibility has to be reciprocal. We are not talking in unilateral terms. There will not be unilateral flexibility."

He pointed out that if neither of the parties moved from their stated positions, the cost of conflict would be disastrous. He said that there could not be lasting peace in the subcontinent unless the issue of Kashmir was resolved.

Mr Kasuri made it clear that the Line of Control would not be accepted as a permanent border and Islamabad would not accept any solution unless the Kashmiris accepted it.

"Kashmiris should be brought on board as soon as possible to inject a sense of ownership over the process (of negotiations)," he said, adding that Pakistan could not accept any solution without them.

When asked to explain what Gen Musharraf meant by changing the status of the seven regions of Kashmir, and the manner in which the territory would be demilitarized, Mr Kasuri avoided a direct reply and said the new proposals were aimed at initiating a debate for policy formulation and were not an articulation of any hard and fast solutions.

He was of the view that a debate would help the official-level talks because rigid positions did not allow much space for movement at that level.

Commenting on complaints by some Kashmiri leaders on this side of the LoC that they were not taken into consideration before the president unfolded his proposals, Mr Kasuri said Pakistan had not at all bypassed the Kashmiris. In this context he referred to his earlier interactions with some APHC leaders.

He also chided the opposition for its criticism of the Musharraf initiative and recalled that when Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif were in power they too had talked of flexibility. Maulana Fazlur Rahman had also supported a negotiated settlement.

When his attention was drawn to the Indian government's cool response to the proposal and the Congress Party spokesman's disclaimer, Mr Kasuri said that India had not given a response yet.