31 October 2004	Sunday	16 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has not given any proposal for resolving the Kashmir issue but asked the media to carry out a debate to elicit public opinion, a Foreign Office spokesman clarified Friday.

The president, during his talk with newsmen on Oct 25, had not given any proposal for resolving the Kashmir issue, as was being reported in a section of the press, the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the president described the various ethnic and geographical regions of Jammu and Kashmir and said that one way to initiate the debate was to identify regions, demilitarize and look at ways to change their status.

The president had asked the media to carry out a debate to elicit public opinion, which, if conducted in those broad parameters, would bring out dozens of options reflecting various shades of public opinion, the spokesman said.

He said the president's statement set out a direction towards a purposeful analysis on options for discussion.

The president reiterated Pakistan's longstanding position that the status quo on Kashmir was not the solution and the Line of Control could never be accepted as an international border, the spokesman added.-APP