ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he
was optimistic that a more conciliatory tone in talks with India would bring an
end to their 60-year dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he was optimistic
that a more conciliatory tone in talks with India would bring an end to
their 60-year dispute over the Himalayan territory of
Kashmir.[AFP]
|
His comments came as thousands of Pakistanis rallied across the country for a
"Kashmir Solidarity Day" and condemned alleged atrocities in the Indian-ruled
part of the Muslim-majority region.
Musharraf said that nuclear-armed India and Pakistan -- who have fought two
of their three wars since 1947 over Kashmir -- had changed their stance from
"confrontationist ... to reconciliatory resolution".
"We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel where we may be able to
resolve the dispute for good, and for the benefit of the people of Kashmir and
to give them final peace," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted
Musharraf as saying before he left to visit Tehran and Ankara.
Hindu-majority India and mostly Muslim Pakistan both hold Kashmir in part and
claim it in its entirety. The row over its future has bedevilled a three-year
peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad.
In January, Pakistan and India renewed their commitment to carry forward the
peace dialogue during talks between their foreign ministers in Islamabad which
covered subjects including the Kashmir dispute and terrorism.
Musharraf said Solidarity Day -- a national holiday here -- was different to
previous years "as (the) focus has changed towards the resolution of the
dispute, and I am happy about it."
Pakistani authorities continued with a full programme of events, including
one minute's silence for tens of thousands of people killed in Kashmir during a
17-year Islamist revolt against Indian rule.
About 1,000 students, labourers and political party workers marched in the
capital, Islamabad. Streets were bedecked with banners saying: "Kashmir, a
valley of tears" and "We salute freedom fighters in Kashmir".
More than 3,000 people rallied in the central city of Multan and protests
elsewhere denounced Indian "atrocities".
Pakistanis and Kashmiris formed a human chain at Kohala bridge, which links
Pakistan with its part of Kashmir, state television said. Special prayers for
Kashmir's freedom were also offered in mosques across the country.
The day officially supports Kashmir's right of "self-determination" under
longstanding UN resolutions which call for a plebiscite in Kashmir on whether it
should be ruled by India or Pakistan.
In October 2004, Musharraf suggested resolving the dispute by demilitarising
Kashmir and either placing it under United Nations mandate, putting it under
joint control or giving it independence.
However, in December he angered separatists by saying Pakistan did not favour
independence.
Musharraf urged Kashmiri leaders -- a fractious mix of pro-Pakistani parties,
Islamists and independence-seekers -- to work together to find "unanimity of
views and to guide us on how to resolve this issue."
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the legislative assembly of the Pakistani
sector of Kashmir on Monday that Pakistan was committed to resolving the dispute
"in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiris".