NEWS

'Indo-Pak peace talks never reached final stage'

By Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
March 05, 2009 15:50 IST

A source in an intelligence agency dealing with Pakistan told rediff.com that former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri was not entirely correct when he said that India and Pakistan were close to an agreement on the Jammu and Kashmir's dispute.

"The proposal was going back and forth. India agreed on certain things. The idea of joint mechanism to govern the entire Kashmir was one of them," he said.

He said the entire talks were based on variations of the Irish accord reached between Britain and Ireland.   

But the talks never reached the final stage. However, he doesn't deny that talks were advancing well had achieved some progress.

He said that the details of the talks must have been leaked to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Sayeed because soon after they came out with the document on the "self-rule framework for Kashmir solution" in October 2008.

Mufti proposed that within J&K, "Political restructuring, economic integration between the two parts of Kashmir, demilitarisation and restructuring within the Indian Constitution" should take place. At that time, Mufti had said that this is the best possible solution without disturbing the borders or sovereignty of Pakistan and India.

Talking about current security situation, the intelligence officer said that India is concerned about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming months.

According to the assessment of Indian intelligence agencies Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's government will face an increasingly tough time in handling the law and order situation and even an increase in terrorism within the state is not ruled out.

The separatists were overwhelmed after Amarnath Shrine board controversy to see people coming out on streets.

According the sources in the home ministry, All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders including Syed Ali Shah Gilani and Sajjad Lone were convinced by their contacts in Pakistan that street show of overwhelming support of the people is the best bet for the cause of Kashmiri rights.

But, their thinking got a jolt when support shown during Amarnath yatra controversy was not repeated during the assembly elections. Also, the separatists feel that if Omar stabilises in power then the "solution to Kashmir" problem will not be a pressing agenda. The use of violence by militants could be renewed by April, says an officer dealing with activities of  Pakistan-linked terrorists with an agenda in Kashmir.

He added that Indian army's efforts and experiences, and the fence along the border is helping but there are high stakes involved for the militants who would like to announce that "we are still around and game is far from over".

Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi

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