22 November 2004	Monday	09 Shawwal 1425

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LAHORE, Nov 21: Pakistan proposed on Sunday that Kashmiri politicians should be on the inaugural bus when a road transport service begins across the Line of Control (LoC) between Azad Kashmir and the India-held Kashmir.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told a conference of South Asian journalists in Lahore that such a bus travel by Kashmiri leaders to visit each other would be a 'grand gesture' that could make a great impact on the newly- revived Pakistan-India peace process.

"When the bus does start, maybe that would be an opportunity - probably as good as any and probably better than any - for that bus to carry leaders from Pakistani Kashmir and Indian Kashmir to visit each other," Mr Kasuri said in a speech to a conference on "media and reconciliation in South Asia" organized by the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma), a non-governmental organization.

"That would be a dramatic moment and it would be a grand gesture...," he said, and added: "Sometimes grand gestures are required for great impacts." Assuring Pakistan's support for the bus service, which has been held up by a dispute over the kind of travel documents to be used by Kashmiri travellers from both sides of the UN-monitored LoC, the foreign minister said: "I think from what I know, this bus service will start. There are positive vibes on both sides ... Both in India and Pakistan, we are supportive of this."

He said the bus service would be in the interest not only of Kashmiri divided families but also of peace between Pakistan and India. "This bus service is not just a bus service between (Azad Kashmir capital) Muzaffarabad and (India-held Kashmir's summer capital) Srinagar. It will actually have a major impact on relationship between Islamabad and New Delhi," Mr Kasuri said.

He said he hoped "no minor considerations" would stand in the way of the plan, and disclosed that two former senior Pakistani and Indian diplomats engaged in the so-called track-two diplomacy had come up with a methodology to overcome differences over the travel documents. But he did not elaborate on the possible way out.

GAS PIPELINE: Mr Kasuri said some other positive things could also happen to help the peace process, one of them being a proposed natural gas pipeline to India via Pakistan.

He said Pakistan would do all it could to facilitate the project but did not explain whether he was referring to a planned gas pipeline from Iran or the one from Turkmenistan.

GREY AREAS: The foreign minister acknowledged that "there are grey areas which might as well be left grey," but said: "The state of relations is on the mend." "There are going to be glitches, we will have to learn to live with the glitches," he said.

He denied that President Musharraf's remarks about India at the Safma conference on Saturday amounted to an angry speech, and said: "He may have been pained (by Indian statements) but I don't think it was an angry speech," he said about the remarks in which the president had complained about perceived discouraging vibes from Indian leaders about his recent proposal for a debate on possible options to settle the Kashmir dispute.

OPPOSITION ROLE: In his speech, the foreign minister said India-Pakistan relations were not going to be dealt with just at 'official level' but it had to be multi-faceted approach in which the media and opposition parties had major roles to play.

It was for that reason, he said, that when he visited India last time he had invited Indian opposition leader L.K. Advani to visit Pakistan, besides talking to leaders of other parties.

Lamenting that the energies of the Saarc countries had been remained focused on managing their region's "share of conflicts, tensions and disputes", he said: "We must transcend the differences in South Asia and make our earnest contribution to uplifting the quality of life of the people of South Asia."

In response to a Safma demand to relax visa restrictions for South Asian journalists, Mr Kasuri promised to take up the matter with the interior ministry. President Musharraf said in his speech to the Safma on Saturday that all journalists of the organization would be free to visit any part of Pakistan.