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Josy Joseph in New Delhi
India is willing to increase military contacts with Pakistan if terrorism and infiltration are part of the talks during such contacts, Indian leaders told the US Secretary of State Colin Powell during his recent visit to New Delhi.
The Indian suggestion came in response to Powell's plea that both sides increase contacts for further reduction in tensions, senior Ministry of External Affairs sources told rediff.com.
The sources said that Powell made the suggestion during his meetings with Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee accompanied by National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra.
Powell suggested that a beginning could be made through increased 'military-to-military' contacts, the sources said.
India, the sources said, agreed with the suggestion and pointed out that the two sides already have a hotline between the Directors General of Military Operations.
But the Indian side observed that the Tuesday contacts between the DGMOs have been irregular of late, and when it does take place the conversations primarily centre around the return of bodies of the soldiers killed and complaints of army commanders from the field.
According to the sources, Indian leaders said they would be happy if the DGMOs include terrorism-related issues, including infiltration, in their conversations.
The Indian leadership also suggested that military contacts could even go down to the level of sector commanders, provided cross-border infiltration and terrorism was also included in the discussion, the sources added.
One official said, "It (the Indian suggestion) is in resonance with the prime minister's suggestion for joint patrolling along the Line of Control by Indian and Pakistani armies to monitor infiltration."
Vajpayee had made his suggestion at Almaty during an Asian conference on terrorism attended by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
Powell also suggested that India and Pakistan resume 'talks on talks' to prepare the ground for a formal dialogue process.
However, the Indian side rejected the US secretary of state's suggestion saying that Musharraf had not shown any 'change in his attitude towards terrorism in Kashmir', the sources said.
"If Pakistan gives evidence that they are changing tack on terrorism we would be much more tolerant towards Musharraf. Our threshold of tolerance would obviously go up," a senior Indian official said.
India conveyed to Powell that it was willing to begin talks if there is 'concrete evidence on the ground' that Pakistan is beginning to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, he said.
"A permanent end to terrorism would take time, and we are no fools to believe that all the 3500 terrorists in Kashmir would listen to Musharraf," the official argued.
The sources said the secretary of state did not 'demand the release of political prisoners' in Jammu and Kashmir as reported in several newspapers. However, Powell raised the issue of observers for the Kashmir election during his meetings with Advani, Vajpayee and Brajesh Mishra, they added.
India has ruled out any formal observers for the election, saying that foreign journalists and diplomats were free to travel to Kashmir during the polls.
The officials, however, said Powell's visit underscores the increasing American appreciation of the Indian position.
"When they are trying to accommodate our points, why should we bother about the finer points of disagreement which are anyway over half a century old," an MEA official asked.
He said the shift in US's traditional stand on Kashmir that has been visible from the second half of the Clinton presidency still continues.
And this shift was 'most effectively put down' by Powell during his present trip and the United States Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca during her appearance before a Congressional committee recently in Washington.
Both said a 'free, fair and a peaceful' Kashmir election was the safest route to the beginning of a search for a solution to the Kashmir issue.
Powell said moderates among separatists should join the election, and Rocca said Simla agreement and not plebiscite and UN resolutions should be the basis for Kashmir settlement.
Both the leaders also said that the issue was to be settled between India and Pakistan and that the US has no intention of being a mediator.
All these, the officials argued, should encourage India towards appreciating the visible shift in more than five-decade-old US policy on Kashmir.
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