Singh offers talks to all groups of Kashmiris: 'Redrawing of borders' ruled out
SRINAGAR, Nov 17: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took his proposals for peace to the Kashmiri people on Wednesday, holding out the promise of further troop withdrawals on his first visit to the region.
Mr Singh said he would hold talks with all Kashmiri groups to end a 15-year-old freedom movement, and suggested more troops could be withdrawn from Kashmir if violence remained under control.
India already plans to pull out some 20,000 troops, according to army officers, out of an estimated 500,000. But Mr Singh ruled out any redrawing of India's borders, pouring cold water on proposals floated by Pakistan to try to resolve the Kashmir dispute, which has bedevilled relations between the two countries for half a century.
"I have extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan, our doors are open to everyone who wants to talk to me calmly," Mr Singh said at a public meeting in Srinagar. "My mind is open to new ideas. If this is based on good intentions, I have place in my heart for all of you."
Just hours before Mr Singh landed in Srinagar, Indian soldiers fought a gun battle with two militants who had been holed up since late Tuesday in a rundown building overlooking the stadium where he was to speak. Troops shot the men dead and scoured the area to ensure that there were no more fighters hiding nearby.
Mr Singh, who took office in May, said further troop withdrawals depended on conditions on the ground. "If conditions improve and if the incidence of infiltration and of violence remain under control, it will make it easier for me to seek a further reduction of troops," he added.
NO FURTHER DIVISION: However, the Indian prime minister ruled out any further division of the disputed state or a redrawing of India's boundaries. "Let me say that I have made it quite clear that any redrawing of international borders is something which is not going to be acceptable to us," Mr Singh told a news conference at the end of the first day of his two-day visit.
"Any proposal which smacks of further division of our country on the basis of religion is not going to be acceptable to us," he said. President Pervez Musharraf last month informally floated a set of proposals to resolve the dispute, which included demilitarization of Kashmir and giving it independence or joint governance or some form of UN control.
Shops were shut in Srinagar and streets deserted in response to a general strike called by a militant group which is demanding Mr Singh to apologise for atrocities by Indian troops against Kashmiris.
Earlier, about 1,000 Indian soldiers withdrew from a southern Kashmiri town as part of a highly publicized move to scale back some forces in the region. New Delhi hopes the withdrawal will send a message of reconciliation to Kashmiris. But a Kashmiri leader said the withdrawal was staged to divert attention from Indian army abuses.
"The mujahideen (holy warriors) and Kashmiris are not fighting just for troop reduction. We took up guns for a complete withdrawal," said Syed Salahuddin, commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen group.
NOTHING NEW: Meanwhile people in Kashmir reacted coolly to Mr Singh's proposals. "Tell me, what is new in what the PM has said?" asked Ghulam Ahmed, a Srinagar businessman. "Many prime ministers before him said much the same but we did not see any change on the ground."
Some state officials, who declined to be named, said Kashmiris were weary of New Delhi's promises and only an early settlement between India and Pakistan could end their troubles. -Reuters
