New Delhi, August 17
Giving a twist to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s suggestion for institutionalised arrangements to bring people from both sides of Kashmir closer, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said this could be the “starter” of a process for “joint management” of the disputed region. General Musharraf noted that “none of us is in favour of their (Kashmir’s) independence” and suggested a “joint framework for self-governance” of both parts of Kashmir should be worked out as part of a solution to the problem.
“Yes, I think that is a starter. This is a very good term,” he told noted constitutional expert A G Noorani in an interview for Frontline magazine when referred to Singh’s recent remarks that there should be institutionalised arrangements to bring people from both parts of Kashmir closer.
The two countries could discuss his proposal of “joint management mechanism on top, consisting of representatives from Pakistan, India and Kashmir, who oversee...the joint management (aspect)”, he said.
General Musharraf was asked whether he would consider Singh’s suggestion as “an acceptable mode of joint management” of the two parts of Kashmir.
Mr Singh had made the remarks at the Kashmir roundtable in Srinagar on May 24 while addressing various groups of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The term...’institutional arrangements’ is what I think is correct. But we need to define the modalities,” General Musharraf said in the interview in the latest issue of the magazine.
General Musharraf said there needs to be “discussion and thought” with regard to the idea of institutionalising the arrangement.
— PTI
