Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to Kashmir if India agrees to a far-reaching self-governance plan for the Himalayan region, Pakistani President Pervez Mu-sharraf suggested yesterday.
While New Delhi and Islamabad have made scant public progress on settling their dispute over Kashmir, officials on both sides privately say advances have been made in so-called "back channel" negotiations, most of them between retired officials from both sides.
Musharraf's remarks yesterday provided a snapshot of what an eventual solution could look like.
He told the independent New Delhi Television that Pakistan would agree to greater autonomy or self-governance for Kashmir with New Delhi and Islamabad jointly supervising the region.
Both India and Pakistan claim all of predominantly Muslim Kashmir.
Asked if Pakistan was ready to give up its claim, he responded: "We will have to ... if this solution comes up."
"Yes, we are against independence" for Kashmir, he said.
The dispute over Kashmir lies at the heart of the rivalry between the two countries. Two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 have been fought over Kashmir, and New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting an Islamic insurgency in India's two-thirds of the region.
Meanwhile, Muslim separatists in Indian Kashmir said they were dismayed by Musharraf's comments.
Kashmiri separatists claim the former kingdom has always been a separate region, and voiced concerns that this was not an issue in the talks between New Delhi and Islamabad.
"It is not a good thing," said Shabir Shah, a leading separatist who heads the Democratic Freedom Party.
"Independence can be one of the options to resolve the long-pending dispute. No one should rule that out," Shah said.
Shah, who has spent more than 20 years in various prisons for espousing Kashmir's independence, said only "people of Kashmir can decide what they want."
"Pakistan has maintained the Kashmir dispute will be resolved as per the aspirations of Kashmiris, and I hope there is no change in that stand," Shah said.
"We always welcome suggestions, but what could be the final solution should be left for the people to decide," said Javed Mir of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.
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