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Groundwork begins for Indo-Pak talks

Exploratory talks between government representatives and All Party Hurriyat Conference chairman Abdul Ghani Butt and Yasin Malik have commenced, to prepare the ground for a dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad, for a solution to the Kashmir tangle, top government sources said on Thursday.

"A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office is among government representatives talking to Butt and Malik, to explore whether India and Pakistan can sit down to find a solution to the Kashmir tangle," a secretary-level ministry of home affairs official told rediff.com.

He clarified that the proposed tripartite talks between India, Hurriyat and Pakistan "can only be a reality if Islamabad stops inciting militants and a peaceful atmosphere exists for them to begin''.

Asserting that a "positive qualitative change'' could be discerned with the latest mobilisation of the Track II diplomatic initiative, he pointed out that the government, however, was not yet willing to issue passports to Hurriyat leaders to go to Pakistan for convincing "interested parties'' to come to the negotiating table for talks on Kashmir.

"As far as the government in New Delhi is concerned, Hurriyat leaders will have to give a foolproof guarantee that they will bring its Pakistani counterpart to the negotiating table, instead of their visit turning out to be a shot in the dark," he stressed.

So far, Hurriyat leaders, it is understood, have not been able to furnish a guarantee to South Block.

Interestingly, Hurriyat leaders, including Butt have been in constant touch with the Pakistan High Commission here. High Commissioner Ashraf Jahangir Qazi has welcomed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's extension of the unilateral cease-fire by a month, terming it as a "welcome move".

"The Hurriyat leaders have realised that for permanent peace in Jammu and Kashmir, the primary pre-requisite is stopping violence in the state. That is what has brought a qualitative change and commenced preparatory talks for proposed dialogue," the official pointed out.

He said this was why while a section of the Hurriyat leadership wanted to continue the preparatory talks, another section "dancing to Pakistan's tunes was less enthusiastic''.

He pointed out that the government's strategy on Jammu and Kashmir was to initiate a dialogue with any militant group or Hurriyat leaders who were willing. In the bargain, the more prominent ones, who were hesitant, subsequently felt left out and clamoured to be included in the talks.

"They (Hurriyat leaders) have realised that the gun culture in J&K was not paying dividends. On the contrary, it was snuffing out positive developments for a solution to the Kashmir tangle," he pointed out.

Complete coverage of the talks
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