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No progress on Kashmir issue

No tangible progress was made by India and Pakistan when they today took up discussion of the Jammu and Kashmir issue, and decided to defer the subject to the next round of official dialogue, the date for which will be announced tomorrow.

After three hours of talks between Indian and Pakistani delegations, led respectively by foreign secretaries K Raghunath and Shamshad Ahmed, a terse official statement said both sides had stated their respective positions and exchanged perceptions on the issue.

It said the discussions were held in a frank and cordial manner and would continue in the next round.

Ahmed, who was present with Raghunath when the statement was read out, said, ''It is unrealistic to expect any concrete progress in two to three hours. Jammu and Kashmir is the most complex issue in the world, and is causing serious peace and security problems in the region.''

Elaborating, he said, ''This issue will take considerable time and attention,'' but added that there was useful exchange of views in a frank and candid manner.

Ahmed said, ''We got together to negotiate difficult issues. Both sides will need to state and restate their positions for a better understanding of each other.''

The two sides had stated their respective positions on Jammu and Kashmir last year and the Pakistani foreign secretary said since the dialogue had been suspended, it was necessary to restate them.

Raghunath said it was agreed that their discussions would be part of a composite process and would have to be held in a realistic manner and in keeping with the interests of both the countries.

Ahmed, who was asked whether he agreed with Raghunath's view, said: "Yes, a composite and integrated dialogue is how we can move forward.

India has been insisting that the progress on Jammu and Kashmir should not prevent the dialogue from finding areas of convergence on other issues. Also, India has suggested that it might become easier to resolve the Kashmir issue if progress could be made on other issues like co-operation in economic, trade, power, and science and technology.

The Indian side also impressed upon Pakistan that it should stop sponsorship of terrorist and subversive activities in India as this itself would be a major confidence-building measure.

In fact, it was stressed that the root cause of the trouble in Jammu and Kashmir was Pakistan's open encouragement, support and funding of terrorist activities against India.

The two foreign secretaries yesterday discussed proposals for confidence-building measures to create a congenial atmosphere between the two countries.

A joint statement will be issued at the end of the talks tomorrow, which is likely to reflect some areas of agreement on confidence-building measures.

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