NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Various proposals for the solution of the Kashmir dispute were presented here before world leaders who assembled at an international conference on Saturday.

Muttahidah chief Altaf Hussain suggested that Line of Control (LoC) be accepted as a de facto border till a practicable option is found, while Tahreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan proposed a Swiss model democracy as a viable solution to resolve the 57-year-old dispute.

"Negotiation is the primary condition for all options," Mr Hussain told an international conference hosted by the Hindustan Times. "The LoC could well be used as the basis to begin negotiations by virtue of being a ground reality, which has existed for the past three decades."

Mr Hussain stressed that the move could become a basis or option to begin talks until such a time that a practicable alternative option was found.

"What is wrong with it?" he asked. "If both countries resolve that crossing this line would be considered as aggression, doesn't it in lay men's terms amount to an international border? If not, what is an international border? And, if this is not an option then what options are we left with, another war?"

Mr Hussain evoked peels of laughter from the audience when he described Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh as "Not War Singh".

Muttahida's immediate political objective is to change the corrupt medieval feudal political system of Pakistan. He offered reasons for supporting President Gen Pervez Musharraf's military rule. "The choice before us in Pakistan today is not Musharraf or democracy, but between army and even more army," Mr Hussain said. "The very religious parties created by the army facilitate constitutional changes which debilitate democratic processes in the long term, on the very next day take to the streets try to make the world believe that they are the vanguard of the fight to restore democracy."

Mr Hussain slammed the government of Pakistan for the plight of 300,000 Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh.

Praising the initiative of Gen Musharraf and the two Indian prime ministers who have dealt with him in high summit talks, Mr Hussain said: "It is quite clear that the necessary architecture is now slowly but surely falling in place in a manner, which would impart continuity to the dialogue process itself." He, however, criticized slow progress on expanding the channels of communication for all the regions.

"Denial to reopen the Khokhrapar-Munabao border and ferry service between Karachi and Bombay is nothing but stifling the rights of the people of Sindh. The people of Sindh are forced to take an expensive route via Islamabad to obtain visas and then go to Lahore to catch the train or the bus. It is now incumbent on the governments of India and Pakistan to re-open the visa office in Karachi, which would further better the relationship.

"I applaud President General Pervez Musharraf for making a bold and courageous statement discarding plebiscite as an option. I had always maintained that it was never a practicable or implementable option," he said.

Speaking after Mr Hussain, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger described as a strategic ally of the United in the region but said India had a bigger and global role to play. He said the relationships were built on different planes and there was no need to try to always balance them.

Former British prime minister John Major said he did not fear a nuclear conflagration in the region as some in the West do.

Responding to a question that the West sees South Asia as a nuclear flash-point, Mr Major said that the conditions for a peaceful solution to issues between India and Pakistan were now far more visible than it was for a long time. "There is a greater possibility of constructive dialogue leading to a successful conclusion," he said.

Earlier, President of Tehreek-i-Insaaf party Imran Khan said a Swiss model could be the most viable to resolve the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. "For a solution to the Kashmir issue, we can look at Switzerland where people of different ethnicities live in an autonomous and proper democratic set-up. Kashmiris may like to have such a system," he said.