NEW DELHI, 24 May — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has decided to invite Pakistan’s Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf to India for talks. The decision was taken at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security. The committee also decided to call off India’s unilateral cease-fire in the northern Jammu and Kashmir state. The two decisions were announced by Defense and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh after the meeting.
Islamabad said it would respond positively to the unexpected offer of dialogue, which would be the first since the nuclear-capable neighbors stood on the brink of a third full-scale war over the Himalayan region.
“Pakistan will respond positively if and when it (the invitation) is received,” state-run Radio Pakistan quoted Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq as saying. There was no immediate formal statement from Pakistan.
Jaswant Singh said New Delhi will be sending a formal invitation to Pakistan shortly. India has taken the initiative to revive ties with Pakistan in the spirit of the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, the minister said. Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference also welcomed India’s move to invite Gen. Musharraf to India for talks.
The two decisions signal a major change in India’s approach toward Pakistan and the peace move it initiated last November with a Ramadan cease-fire. The cease-fire has been called off because, according to Singh, it had failed to check terrorism in the state, which was one of its primary motives. It had, however, contributed to “relative peace” along the Line of Control, he said. “Non-initiation of combat operations is over. Security forces will act as they judge the situation best,” Singh said.
The foreign minister said the process of dialogue initiated by New Delhi’s special emissary Krishna Chandra Pant with secessionists and Kashmiri leaders would be continued.
In Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, the Hizbul Mujahedeen group dismissed New Delhi’s announcement as immaterial. “It makes no difference because there was no cease-fire on the ground,” a spokesman said.
Since the cease-fire came into effect, 421 civilians have been killed and over 500 injured. Twenty-five year old Gulzar Ahmad Ganai of Kakernag village died on May 17, allegedly after being severely beaten by security officials. Angry residents of this village are agitated over the authorities’ lack of reaction.
A resident of Magam village, who did not want to be identified, said: “The cease-fire has lost its meaning for us as we continue to suffer.” With the mood in the Kashmir Valley also turning against India, Vajpayee thought it was time to hold talks with Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan have also come under international pressure to hold talks.
Musharraf has repeatedly expressed his desire for talks with Indian leaders on Kashmir. In an interview published in China Daily recently, he said, “I sincerely hope that India will agree in the foreseeable future to resume the stalled dialogue in order to resolve the long outstanding Kashmir dispute.”
