Kashmir still hinders India-Pakistan ties

NEW DELHI, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Although India and Pakistan have agreed to extend the year-long Kashmir ceasefire, the two sides were unable to hide their sharp differences over the disputed Himalayan region.

The two-day bilateral talks between the foreign ministers of two arch-foe neighbors saw both New Delhi and Islamabad sticking to their respective guns over Kashmir.

Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mohammed Kasuri Monday concluded bilateral talks aimed at enhancing the peace process launched that was resumed earlier this year after a hiatus of two years.

Kashmir, a cause of two of India-Pakistan's three wars, continues to be the main stumbling block in the bilateral peace process. Several previous rounds of negotiations have reached the same dead end with the two sides refusing to budge from their respective stand on Kashmir.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir, a third of which is under Pakistani control, while the rest is controlled by India. The two have fought two wars over Kashmir and came close to fighting another war in 2002.

The Indian side of Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state of otherwise predominantly Hindu India, is home to a 15-year-old separatist Islamic uprising, which India blames on Pakistan.

Monday's talks were no exception. While Pakistan demanded Kashmir be the core issue of the peace process, India raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in Kashmir allegedly fuelled by Islamabad. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of arming the Islamic rebels and infiltrating them across the border for subversive activities in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.

Despite a bear hug, both ministers put their cards on the table before the media.

Singh said: "Cross-border infiltration remains a serious concern, and I have reiterated our concerns."

India also declined Pakistan's proposal that leaders of Kashmir rebel groups be involved in the bilateral talks to make to tripartite conversation.

Kasuri, meanwhile, said that he had told Singh that Kashmir is the core issue and must be resolved sooner than later. He also raised his concerns over the human rights situation in Kashmir. Pakistan accuses Indian troops of abusing the human rights of the Kashmiri people.

"It is a matter of pure common sense, it is a mater of historical experience that if we want to push, or if we wish to put, our relations on an even keel, we will have to tackle the issue of Kashmir because, you know, sky is the limit once these two countries start cooperating," Kasuri said after the talks.

The prime ministers of India and Pakistan backed their respective foreign ministers.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the two countries needed to cast off the "burden of history" and "write a new chapter." Manmohan Singh reminded Kasuri to fully implement the Jan. 6 commitment of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf of not allowing any territory of Pakistan for use by terrorists against India.

The prime minister said his government would like to encourage people-to-people contacts between India and Pakistan. "In this regard, modalities can easily be worked out," he said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told BBC: "Our intention is good. We want the issue of Kashmir to be settled.

"We want the people of Kashmir to be taken care of and their wishes and rights respected, and if that is the philosophy we follow, there is no limit to how well our relationships can grow," Aziz said.

The two sides have agreed for enhanced people-to-people contact. Bus services would be launched between Amritsar and Lahore and also between Srinagar and Muzafarrabad in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be meeting President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month. Prime Minister Aziz would visit New Delhi in November.

Meanwhile Indian media said that the two sides may not have achieved much breakthrough but the important thing is that the peace dialogue continues to move forward.

"One of the perennial problems of India-Pakistan relations is the predictable unpredictability of its progress. This is caused by mistrust on both sides. It is perhaps not realized in Pakistan that the bulk of that mistrust has been caused by the persistent hostility to India shown by the Pakistani ruling elite, which continues to promote Kashmir as the "core issue" which must be solved according to its own perspective," The Indian Express said in an editorial

"There is an upsurge of hope for peace among the people in both countries. They are looking for normal relations between India and Pakistan and a better life created by the enhancement of political, economical and social opportunities," the daily said, adding: "They want neither war nor terrorism. But people, even in democracies, don't make and execute policy, although they have a great influence on it because of the impact of public opinion."

"Not surprisingly there was no breakthrough on Kashmir. But there was, to cite the quotable Singh, "modest progress" worthy of respect," The Hindustan Times said.

Both India and Pakistan have been involved in a now-on now-off peace process for the last five years. Both nations have had new prime ministers installed over the last three months. The new leaders have separately said they would continue the peace process that has seen many confidence-building measures from both sides over the last several months.

India accuses Pakistan of fomenting and financing a 15-year separatist Islamic uprising on the Indian side of Kashmir that has killed 38,000 people. Pakistan denies the charge, but openly says it supports the "freedom struggle" of the Kashmiri people.