Meeting in their first high-level talks, Kashmiri separatist leaders and top Indian officials have vowed to find a peaceful route to end the violence that has savaged the beautiful Himalayan region.
"The meeting has proved a very good beginning," India's deputy prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani, said Thursday after leading Indian negotiators in discussions with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of religious and political parties and Kashmir's most prominent separatist organization.
While little of substance had been expected from the meeting, the fact that the discussions concluded with such public amicability was a significant sign that things were moving along well in efforts to bring peace to Kashmir -- and in relations between India and longtime rival Pakistan.
In a joint statement, the two sides declared that "the only way forward is to ensure that all forms of violence at all levels should come to an end," and that "a step-by-step approach would lead to resolution of all outstanding issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir."
Advani also agreed to a "rapid review" of people held in detention in Kashmir without trial, a sore point for most Kashmiris, the joint statement said.
The Indian press had billed the talks as an icebreaker between longtime political foes, and in that respect they appeared to have gone very well.
During the talks, Hurriyat leaders asked to make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said Advani, who arranged that meeting for yesterday evening.
Advani is the most prominent hardline Hindu nationalist in the Indian government, and has long been distrusted by many Kashmiri separatists. While the Hurriyat is a legal organization, some of its members have ties to the myriad militant Islamic groups that have been fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989.
The Hurriyat appeared pleased with how things went.
Abdul Ghani Bhat, a top Hurriyat leader, said the meeting had been "a significant step in the process."
The talks reflected broader peace efforts between India and Pakistan, for whom Kashmir has long been the most divisive issue.
Advani said Thursday's meeting was the result of "a new atmosphere in which there is determination all around to see that violence comes to an end."
An easing of India-Pakistan relations began last April, when the often-ailing 79-year-old Vajpayee surprised the region by announcing he was ready to resume dialogue, saying: "This round of talks will be decisive, and at least for my life, these will be the last."
Since then, the two nuclear-armed rivals have traded envoys, opened transportation links and, most importantly, agreed to start talks on Kashmir. It was a significant shift from 2002, when the two nations had nearly gone to war again, after attacks that India blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.
Disagreements over Kashmir began as colonial India was given its freedom in 1947 and divided into modern India and Pakistan. During partition, the Hindu king of predominantly Muslim Kashmir chose to merge the region with India -- though most of his subjects almost certainly would have chosen to join overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan.
The two nations have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, once a tourist paradise known for its alpine forests, excellent skiing and golf courses. Today, though, it remains divided between them, cleaved along the so-called Line of Control, one of the world's most militarized boundaries.
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