18 November 2004	Thursday	05 Shawwal 1425

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to occupied Kashmir, which began on Wednesday, holds out the promise of a new deal for the held state.

Anxious to set a conducive atmosphere, the mild-mannered Singh announced last week troop reductions, ignoring criticism by hardliners, particularly in the opposition pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he was compromising on security.

According to officials, the troop reductions involve some 9,000 infantrymen engaged in operations to counter militants rather than formations deployed along the Line of Control (LoC). India maintains more than 500,000 troops in held Kashmir.

Islamabad lost no time in welcoming Manmohan Singh's announcement last week with an official spokesman saying that "the decision on the eve of Eidul Fitr will have a salutary impact on Kashmir".

Last year, New Delhi used the occasion to announce the restoration of direct air and rail links between the two countries, which were suspended after both nuclear-armed neighbours came to the brink of an all-out war in 2002.

More than the largely symbolic troop reductions, India's Interior Minister Shivraj Patil has announced that the Indian government was now prepared to allow members of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) - consisting mostly of anti-India political leaders - to visit Pakistan and meet militant leaders there to thrash out a solution to the Kashmir dispute.

"The Home Minister saying that he will allow the Hurriyat to go (to Pakistan) is more important than the troop reductions," said Prem Shankar Jha, a well-known columnist who has long been involved in informal dialogue with Kashmir leaders, in a bid to encourage a political settlement to the issue.

The Hurriyat, though, has taken a tough stand on the issue with its chairman Mirwaiz Omer Farooq announcing on Tuesday that it would be pointless for its members to meet Singh until they were allowed to travel to Pakistan first.

"We have applied for visas and if we get them then we will be prepared to talk," he told television channels in Srinagar. Omer Farooq has also made it known that the Hurriyat expected more from Singh than economic packages. Among the demands made are "the release of innocent people languishing in jails for many years and an end to human rights violations."

Nonetheless, both army excesses and alleged incidents of violence by militant groups have been continuing. Last week occupied Kashmir was in uproar over the alleged rape of a woman and her young daughter by an army officer. Also, the eve of Singh's departure for Srinagar was marred by news of the massacre of six "Ikhwans" or pro-India activists in Budgam district on Monday.

Singh is not likely to be swayed by the tough stand of the Hurriyat, which the Indian government has accused of taking instructions from Islamabad. The Indian prime minister can take comfort in the fact that his Congress Party is the main partner in the elected government of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and that there has been considerable progress in peace initiatives with Pakistan initiated on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Islamabad in January.

A joint press statement issued at the Islamabad summit on Jan 6 dramatically said: "President Musharraf reassured (then) Prime Minister (Atal Behari) Vajpayee that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner."

Since then there has been a dramatic decline in what India calls "cross-border terrorism", although some analysts here are inclined to believe that such activity has been checked effectively by New Delhi by the building of a high fence along the LoC complete with electronic sensors and thermal imaging equipment to detect unauthorized movement.

Although Islamabad has officially protested against the building of the fence it, nevertheless, cooperated silently by announcing a ceasefire along the LoC in November last year and has stuck to it since.

"The fence coupled with better surveillance and vigilant troops have played a significant role in the reduction of infiltration from across the border," said India's Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee at a press briefing on Friday.

Preparations are currently underway in New Delhi to receive Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz next week when the two sides are expected to discuss the Kashmir issue, including proposals made by President Pervez Musharraf for a sector-wise opening up of the LoC for travel.

Pervez Musharraf's proposal for a limited opening of the LoC was first made through the press and that irked New Delhi. But ever since Islamabad made a formal presentation for discussions on the issue to the Indian government, tempers have cooled down.

Singh himself has said that a sharp fall in incidents of "infiltration", as promised by President Musharraf, have greatly contributed to the building up of an atmosphere conducive to talks when Mr Aziz arrives on Nov 23.

"Both Pakistan and India are committed to finding credible, effective and mutually satisfactory solutions to all outstanding problems," he said in reply to queries from reporters ahead of his trip to Kashmir. -Dawn/The Inter Press News Service.