15 April 2005	Friday	05 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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NEW DELHI, April 14: Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee accused Pakistan on Thursday of encouraging ‘religious terrorism’ in occupied Kashmir while Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh ruled out any timeframe to resolve the dispute. “Pakistan is having double standards on terrorism as on one side it is saying something else and on the other it is abetting terrorism in the name of religion in J and K,” Mr Mukherjee said in Chandigarh.

While Indian troops had helped bring down infiltration in the Valley, a large number of ‘terrorists’ were still present at ‘launching pads’ waiting for an opportunity to cross over, he told a seminar on ‘peace perspectives in South and Southeast Asia - challenges and opportunities’ at the Punjab University.

“Infiltration attempts are still on and the terrorists are being given special training to negotiate the border fence,” Mr Mukherjee said.

Mr Natwar told Delhi’s Outlook magazine that a timeframe to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue was not feasible.

“It would not be prudent to impose a timeframe or deadline for resolution of the J and K issue, an issue which has defied solution for so long, and which, by all accounts, is complicated,” he told the weekly.

The foreign minister emphasized that any discussion with Pakistan on Kashmir must be focused “first and foremost on the need to end cross-border terrorism and dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism across the Line of Control.