NEW DELHI, 4 November 2003 — Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed yesterday described a Pakistani proposal that the UN monitor a bus service linking the two zones of the divided Himalayan region as “illogical.”
Sayeed was talking to reporters in Jammu, winter capital of Kashmir.
“There is no logic behind the suggestion of Islamabad that the United Nations officials should man the checkposts and the travelers could travel on UN documents,” Sayeed said.
India last month proposed a bus service linking Srinagar with Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as part of a 12-point peace initiative that also included reviving severed sporting links.
But Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar last week said such a service should be “controlled” by the UN, that UN personnel should man checkpoints on the disputed border and that bus passengers should carry UN documents.
The Indian proposals were aimed at mending ties between New Delhi and Islamabad that had touched a low following an attack on India’s national Parliament complex in December 2001.
Despite there being no change in the tone and level of rhetoric being exercised by India and Pakistan against each other, certain developments suggest that the two nuclear rivals are seriously moving toward normalization of ties. One of these is their decision to simultaneously release detained fishermen. As part of their attempt to implement certain confidence building measures, India will release 94 Pakistani fishermen with their boats while 74 Indian fishermen will be released by Pakistan today.
Caught for trespassing in their waters by respective authorities of the two countries, the fishermen have been in prison for years.
The release of fishermen by both countries enhances the credibility of the “peace initiative” taken by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Toward the same end, Vajpayee has dismissed criticism of his government adopting an anti-Pak policy to arouse political passion for the coming assembly elections.
“By our recent measures, we have also silenced the whispering campaign that the requirements of the forthcoming elections dictate a harsh Pakistan policy,” Vajpayee said while addressing a top commanders’ conference in New Delhi on Saturday. Breaking the routine, certain excerpts of his address were released by the Defense Ministry on Sunday.
Vajpayee also said: “The political leaders of this country are well aware that the constituency for peace with Pakistan is much larger than that which favors hostility.”
The diplomatic significance of Vajpayee’s address and it being released by the Defense Ministry cannot be overemphasized.
While asserting India’s determination to deal firmly with cross-border terrorism and that dialogue with Pakistan would carry weight only if it ended, Vajpayee emphasized the significance of his peace initiative. He said that his effort was aimed at “encouraging” those elements in Pakistan who “recognize the folly of permanent hostility toward India.”
Some progress has also been made on the diplomatic front with Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan meeting prominent Indian leaders. He met Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley last week. This was Khan’s first high-level interaction with the Indian leadership after his taking charge and presenting credentials in July.
Khan met Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi yesterday and said that a dialogue process should be initiated along with confidence building measures as this would “definitely” contribute to improvement in Indo-Pakistan ties.
