The Kashmir deal – II

Few days back, the Time Magazine broke the story that India was willing to move the border of Jammu and Kashmir few miles to the east as a solution to the Kashmir Problem. This was immediately denied by India. But now Asia Times has more information on the deal.

First Musharraf, say Western diplomatic sources, assured US Secretary of State Colin Powell that Pakistan was agreeable to a territorial adjustment along the LoC, to which India apparently agreed during earlier discussions with Powell before he left for Islamabad from New Delhi on a recent visit to the subcontinent.

A similar statement by Manmohan, though denied by the Indian High Commission, provides credence to the claim that a blueprint for a modified LoC as an anchor to a settlement in Kashmir already exists.

A just-retired general of the Indian army, who preferred not to be quoted by name, told Asia Times Online that a settlement blueprint that has been agreed in principle by both sides exists and is being kept under wraps to be disclosed at a juncture politically suitable for both countries.

The general added that adjustment of a few kilometers on either side of LoC is unlikely to alter the strategic advantage of either India or Pakistan. He claimed that political leaders at a very senior level in the previous administration and the present United Progressive Alliance government have been briefed on this. [On Kashmir, hot air and trial balloons]

I hope the anonymous source who gave information to Time Magazine is not the same one who is telling all this to Asia Times. India’s National Security Advisor and his Pakistani counterpart have been meeting in various countries having secret discussions and anything the elected leader of India and the dictator of Pakistan will discuss in New York would have been agreed upon previously. This seems to look more than a trial balloon now.

Pakistan Pop Quiz (2): Who is lying here ?

Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan:

Pakistan on Monday renewed its call for setting a “timeframe” to settle the dragging Kashmir dispute, describing cross-border terrorism as a non-issue. “We (Pakistan and India) should quicken the pace. Some reasonable timeframe has to be there to resolve the Kashmir issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters here. Khan said the ongoing dialogue with India should not be “open ended” and there must be a certain timetable and deadline to resolve the Kashmir issue that has bedevilled relations between the two neighbours.[Set timeframe for resolving Kashmir: Pakistan]

Pakistani Army Chief/CEO/President/General de Gaulle wannabe:

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has said he has not asked India to give a specific timeframe for solution to the long-pending Kashmir tangle.[No Timeframe Set For Kashmir Solution: Musharraf]

If you refer to the other pop quiz, Masood Khan is turning out to be a Baghdad Bob.

No Terrorism in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

The state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided into its present form after the 1948 war. Almost all the time you hear about terrorist activities in the Kashmir valley, which is in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. So what is happening in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK)? Why is there no freedom movement there?
It is not that everyone in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir want to be part of Pakistan. Pro-Independence sentiments are prevalent around Mirpur, a small town. POK does have elections and have their own president, prime minister, election commision etc. You are free to contest elections if you sign in writing that you favor accession to Pakistan (so much for self determination there). For example in 2001, JKLF, who believes in Independence for Kashmir, fielded candidates for 31 of the 36 seats in POK and all their applications were rejected.

This right of Kashmiris was further curtailed by Act 1974, as it has institutionalized the role of Pakistani governments who could dictate their terms and

Pakistan Pop Quiz: Who is lying here ?

US Military:

KABUL, Afghanistan The U-S military says al-Qaida and Taliban leaders have met in Pakistan to discuss derailing Afghanistan’s elections next month. Major Scott Nelson says intelligence shows the meetings were marked by growing alarm over efforts to root out their activities.[U-S military alleges plot against Afghan elections]

Pakistan Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan:

Pakistan denied Monday that Al Qaeda and Taleban militants had met in its territory to plot ways to disrupt the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan.

The Kashmir deal ?

Alex Perry of Time breaks the story of the offer that the Indian Prime Minister is going to place before the Pakistani Dictator Musharraf for solving the Kashmir Problem.

There, a senior Indian official tells TIME, Singh will make an offer to help defuse South Asia’s most dangerous flash point, Kashmir. India, says the official, will offer to “adjust” the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir, “by a matter of miles” eastward. Indian analysts confirm that the offer has been under discussion, in India and with Pakistan’s leadership, for months

Your Mistakes

There was a proposal from the Indian side to convert the Line of Control to an international border as a solution to the Kashmir problem ? But this was turned down by Musharraf with the question, “Then why did we fight so many wars ?”.
Let’s look at each of these wars in detail. In 1948 even though the Maharajah of Kashmir had a standstill agreement with Pakistan, there was infiltration by several thousand Pashtun tribesmen from the Hazara district of NWFP. Since the NWFP were tribal areas were beyond the control of the Pakistani Government, the Pakistani Prime Minister claimed that they had nothing to do with it.
After the war with China which India lost in 1962, the Pakistanis started training Kashmiri youth in military camps to fight as guerillas. In 1965, several thousand armed men crossed the Line Of Control who were mainly professional Pakistani soldiers and non-Kashmiris. They expected support from the Muslims in the valley, but it did not happen and the war was stopped by United Nations.
In 1999 it was the Pakistanis who crossed the Line of Control again. The army did not even inform the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Prime Minister had to go to Washington and agree to withdraw the troops after he started losing the war.
Each time it was the Pakistanis who violated the Line of Control and got humiliated by the Indian Army. So when Musharraf asks why did we fight so many wars, the answer is, we did not start the wars, you did, and we cannot be held hostage to your mistakes.

Tesing the ally

Los Angeles Times has an editorial on how to test America’s new ally. This would be by letting Americans question AQ Khan, the national hero who sold nuclear technology to the Axis of Evil.

The pardon might have been a reflection of Khan’s status as national hero for being the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, giving the country parity with longtime foe and next-door neighbor India. Musharraf’s pardon came soon after he survived the second of two assassination attempts. His foes are not leaders of major political parties $(O h(Be banned them from running for office $(O b(But Islamic radicals from the likes of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Pakistan said it would share information it obtained from Khan with other nations, but sources in Washington said they had received nothing so far. So much for help from a supposed major ally.

North Korea claimed this week that its explosions were not nuclear weapons tests but demolition of a mountain for a hydroelectric project. Khan could help the U.S. and the IAEA understand how much of Pyongyang’s explanations to believe. Musharraf should make him available for face-to-face interviews with nuclear inspectors, not dangle the ever-fainter promise of some day offering secondhand tales of what Khan knows about the state of nuclear proliferation.[Testing Our ‘Ally,’ Pakistan]

This would be wishful thinking.