Gujral, Sharief fail to end deadlock

Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharief appear to have failed in breaking the deadlock in the foreign secretary-level talks on the controversial issue of establishing a working group to deal with the contentious Kashmir issue.

An indication to this effect was available on Tuesday night, when the two sides held separate briefings following the Gujral-Sharief meeting.

The two prime ministers, however, decided to reconvene the foreign secretary-level meeting in two months in Islamabad.

Addressing the media after his meeting with Gujral on Tuesday, Sharief made it clear that progress in bilateral relations depends on Kashmir.

Sharief said he had also told Gujral that the Indian government was resiling from the agreement reached between the two countries's foreign secretaries on the mechanism to deal with the Kashmir problem.

Apparently, he was referring to clause four of the June 23 agreement which called for establishing working groups to address the contentious issue. It also says the issue will be dealt with at the foreign secretaries's level.

At the foreign secretaries meeting in New Delhi last week, the two sides differed on the interpretation of the June accord.

While Pakistan insists that the accord envisaged establishing a working group to specifically address the Kashmir problem, India thinks otherwise.

In reply to a question, Sharief said Pakistan would not stick to the expression ''working group'' if India felt uncomfortable. Insisting that there be a mechanism to address outstanding issues like Kashmir, Sharief said he was not disappointed by Gujral's response. He only emphasised that India must honour its commitments.

Gujral, he said, reiterated his commitment to resolve the issue and wanted the Indo-Pakistan dialogue to move forward. Asked if the Indo-Pakistan dialogue had reached a stalemate, the Pakistan leader said the complex issue which has been festering for the past 50 years could not be expected to be solved instantly.

Sharief described his meeting with Gujral as ''good''. Asked if he found any change in Gujral's attitude since their first meeting in Male in May, he said, ''I would characterise it as status quo.''

Replying to a question on possible third party intervention to resolve the Kashmir issue, Sharief said, ''Pakistan believes that US involvement in South Asian issues would be very helpful to both countries to prevent any deadlock in talks.''

Observers believe that Pakistan -- after having twice failed to force a settlement by armed intervention -- wants to keep India engaged in a dialogue on Kashmir and also build international pressure, as Sharief did in the UN General Assembly, in favour of its demand.

Refuting the allegation that India has ''resiled'' from its commitment, an Indian official said, ''Where was the question of India resiling from its commitment?'' As for the non-aggression pact mooted by Sharief, the official said it was Pakistan's propaganda offensive. He said Sharief did not raise the issue in his talks with Gujral and, ''if and when it comes up, we will study it''. Sharief had made the offer in his speech in the UN General Assembly.

UNI

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