NEW DELHI, 2 May 2007 — Edging closer toward narrowing differences over the Kashmir issue and Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline project, India and Pakistan are laying the ground work for long-standing friendly ties in both the areas.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad held talks yesterday on the Kashmir problem with visiting Pakistan leader Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, the former prime minister and president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
“We want to improve relations between Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We want to develop trade, tourism and culture, and both sides are unanimous on improving and strengthening relations. And, the best thing is that both sides are equally desirous,” Azad said after his meeting with Khan.
During the delegation-level and one-to-one meeting between Azad and Khan which lasted for more than an hour, the issue of promoting trade across the Line of Control (LOC) was discussed.
Both sides are keen on facilitating trade activities across LOC. Displaying satisfaction with the successful plying of bus services between the two sides of Kashmir, they expressed the hope that it could be further improved by removing the bureaucratic wrangling. On this Khan said after the meeting, “The verification process should be made more speedy so that the waiting period is decreased.” They also favored exchange of legislators to logically conclude the Indo-Pak peace process within a set timeframe.
Khan was in New Delhi to participate in a “Heart-to-Heart” conference of leaders from both sides of LOC, held last week, organized by India’s Panthers Party to restore peace in Kashmir.
Asserting that a solution to the Kashmir issue will promote peace, free movement and trade, Khan said that “closed door” efforts were being made in this direction. “There is a lot of dialogue going on now behind closed doors and, I think, it is best that these discussions stay secret.”
Mushahid Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League-Q secretary-general and chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has rejected the use of force to solve the Kashmir problem. In India on a private visit, he told a news agency: “The bottom lines are clear as far as Kashmir is concerned. We cannot get Kashmir by force. India too cannot retain Kashmir by use of force.”
“These days the use of military might has failed. It has failed in Iraq, it has failed in Afghanistan and it has failed in Lebanon. It cannot succeed in Kashmir,” Hussain said. Observing that progress in the IPI project is likely to accelerate the peace process, Hussain said: “One expression of the common stake is the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.”
