NEW DELHI, 29 June — Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday pledged free elections in insurgency-wracked Kashmir and said there was "no question" of war with Pakistan, despite a six-month military standoff between the nuclear powers. "I think it is time that fair elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir and for that, if need be, I shall even have president’s rule," the premier told reporters in the city of Lucknow, in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, and his home constituency.
Vajpayee acknowledged that tensions had eased but again ruled out any withdrawal of the hundreds of thousands of Indian troops on the frontier. "There is no question of having a war with Pakistan, but right now we are not taking any steps to remove troops from the border," he said.
"I am willing to hold talks with Pakistan on all issues including Jammu and Kashmir, but for that I need the right atmosphere and cross-border terrorism should end first," the Indian premier said.
Vajpayee also said he was ready for dialogue with Indian Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
"I have already expressed that I am always open to having a dialogue with them, provided they set no conditions." Vajpayee’s largely conciliatory tone over Kashmir comes three days before he is to announce a reshuffle of his Cabinet.
He said the president’s rule in Kashmir, or direct control from Delhi, can be imposed by the Cabinet over a state in time of political instability. Vajpayee is hoping the election in Kashmir due by Oct. 14 will be incident-free, thereby thwarting criticism that the Muslim-majority state has not been able to choose its own leaders.
Separatists have already called for a boycott of the polls, alleging that past votes that have brought to power Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference party were rigged. Kashmir activists, meanwhile, have vowed to "sabotage" the polls and warned voters not to show up on election day.
