Indo-Pak ties: Musharraf promises his best shot

Promising to give his 'best shot' to bring peace and harmony in Pakistan's relations with India, President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said the opportunity to resolve the Kashmir issue must be seized while he and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are at the helm.

"We are trying to bring peace and harmony to our relations with India. This is the time for conflict resolution," Musharraf, who is on a three-day visit to Australia, said.

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Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, he expressed optimism over resolution of the Kashmir problem and said: "There is no timetable but there ought to be some timetable...and I have told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the best timetable is that it must take place within our tenures.

"We have developed a kind of understanding between ourselves. There won't be a guarantee that future leaders will have the same understanding, future leaders will have the same focus," Musharraf said.

Commenting on Monday's militant attack in Pulwama in Kashmir, he said: "There is nobody who can exercise control on everyone and everything that is happening in Kashmir...I certainly don't hold a whistle which I can blow and every
bullet stops being

fired."

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He went on to add that to expect total peace and harmony in Kashmir will not be possible and "both sides understand that."

He said that a settlement to the Kashmir problem would lead to tremendous development in South Asia because it is this "conflict which has kept us apart from the economic development and interaction with the rest of Asia."

Musharraf also affirmed Pakistan's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and ruled out the possibility of its strategic assets falling into wrong hands. "Pakistan has developed a strong command and control system to safeguard and protect assets. Pakistan is a responsible state and has a national command authority in place...so the possibility of assets falling into wrong hands does not arise."

About the proliferation network run by disgraced scientist A Q Khan, he said it was an act of an individual and the government was not involved in any way.

He said that Pakistan developed its nuclear capability for self defence in the wake of "the threat posed to its security by India's nuclearisation."

Also see: India has to withdraw from Siachen -- Pak