Any pact on Kashmir will need international guarantees: General

ISLAMABAD: Adding a new dimension to the peace process on Kashmir, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said he would prefer some kind of ‘‘international guarantees’’ for implementation of any pact reached with India on the issue, which he wants to be settled in a year’s time.



‘‘I don’t know, I haven’t thought of this point, but may be the peace process should be guaranteed by the international community. I think if we reach an agreement there should be something other than just bilateral guarantees. I think the international community should play a role in the guarantees. And this is a new thing that I am saying,’’ he said in an interview to Pakistan’s Daily Times.



Last week, he said a solution to the Kashmir issue cannot be on ‘‘any religious basis’’ and will have to be found within India’s stand of no redrawing borders, Pakistan’s stand that the LoC cannot be a permanent border and the boundaries becoming irrelevant.



In the interview, Musharraf said: ‘‘We are talking of guarantees which go beyond us. If we reach an agreement and we are reasonably sure that it will be followed, there is no harm why we should be so stuck up. I think we will have better permanence if the international community is involved, finally, in the guarantee.’’



Responding to a query on where he sees the peace process heading in the next one year, Musharraf said ‘‘if we move forward, which we can, if we have the courage I am very sure this (Kashmir) whole issue can be put behind in 12 months.’’



He said the process may take a better shape within a year’s time. ‘‘I see them looking much better. My only hope is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stays and is allowed to move forward. I am very glad to say that my interaction with BJP leaders, Advani and Vajpayee, has been very good. The only thing that I said was please don’t oppose it because you are in the Opposition. And then the coalition partners, the Communist members who are very strong in the coalition, they are totally on board. We must resolve this issue,’’ he said.



He claimed that Singh had allowed Hurriyat leaders to travel to Pakistan for which Islamabad had extended an invitation to the moderate and hardline factions of the separatist outfit on Monday.



Asked who would represent Kashmiris at the talks, Musharraf said: ‘‘This is another sensitive issue. I feel the true representatives of Kashmiris is the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the APHC. We feel that there has to be a trilateral arrangement where Kashmiris become part of the dialogue process.’’



In the same breath, he claimed ‘‘now the Kashmiris are the APHC and there are Pakistan and India. Now we have a breakthrough. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has allowed them to travel to Pakistan. So once they visit us and they also talk to the Indian government, which we will try to facilitate, we shall have a trilateral arrangement going.’’



‘‘Let us start from here and see if there is any other group who also represent the Kashmiris and need to be included. If so, then let’s bring them together. As I said, if you are moving forward towards a resolution I am sure these are small issues that can be solved as we move forward. Let’s move forward, as I said, towards demilitarisation and issues of governance.’’



He said he did not want to be drawn into a ‘‘debate on sensitive issues’’ such as inviting elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir like leaders of the ruling PDP and the Opposition National Conference.



Replying to a question that even moderate Hurriyat leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have ‘‘accepted the fact that the APHC is not the exclusive representative of the Kashmiris’’, the PDP and the National Conference have their constituencies and also represent the Kashmiris, he said: ‘‘I am not going to comment on it. To us, the APHC is the sole representative. But if we see forward movement and flexibility on the other side, we would like to show flexibility on our side. But I will not show flexibility if I don’t see flexibility on the other side.’’



To a question whether he was in a position to enforce a ceasefire by militants in Kashmir, Musharraf said militancy could die a natural death if there is an agreement acceptable to India, Pakistan and Kashmiris and he could try to persuade the militants to stop their activities if India was willing to demilitarise.



‘‘If there is an agreement, up to a point one can try and do something (on ceasefire). But I can’t give a guarantee that there will no bullet fired. Absolutely not, that’s clear. I don’t hold a whistle which when I blow it will end all militancy.’’



Referring to the April 6 attack on a bus station in Srinagar, Musharraf said he was against it. ‘‘We are going in a certain direction. Obviously, these are individuals who don’t agree with me or with the Indian Prime Minister.



Unfortunately, these elements will be there to create problems in the transition period. But they will die their own death if we reach a conclusion which the vast majority of Kashmiris and Pakistanis and Indians are willing to accept.’’



‘‘If there is willingness on the part of the Indians to demilitarise, and if the requirement is that there is no militant activity there, then one could get involved in a discussion with all roots and try to persuade and influence them to stop this activity. But this has to be tied in with demilitarisation because there is so much of mistrust and these things can’t be one-sided. It cannot be that you stop all your activities and we will stop or demilitarise later. This is not do-able. It has to be taken as a package,’’ he said.



‘Siachen, Sir Creek unnecessary irritants’



* On Siachen, Sir Creek: Intentions are very good on both sides. Both are actually troublesome on both sides, unnecessary irritants which can be resolved



* On Baglihar: We have taken it to the World Bank. There is a mediator now, a Swiss gentleman who has been nominated. Let him decide. India dragged its feet so long on bilateral discussions that it pushed Pakistan to demand a neutral expert