New Delhi, April 21
With the Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri claiming that New Delhi and Islamabad were nearing agreement on the Kashmir issue, the BJP today demanded the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to disclose the content of the talks with the South Asian nuclear neighbour.
"If Islamabad says the Kashmir issue is near settlement, the Prime Minister must tell the country and Parliament where we have reached in these talks," senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
Kasuri told The Nation newspaper in an interview yesterday that “lots of ground has been covered for an agreement on Kashmir and some areas of differences are being sorted out.”
"The two countries are moving towards a settlement of the Kashmir issue that might not be the first best choice for all the three parties (India, Pakistan and Kashmiris) but it could be the second best," Kasuri was quoted as saying.
The finalised Kashmir "package" would be presented before the Pakistan Parliament for approval. However, if it were not approved by Parliament it would not be acceptable to Pakistan, he added.
He said "certain steps" were needed to sell the package to the people of India, Pakistan and Kashmir.
Malhotra said "we have already served a notice in Parliament that the Prime Minister take the country into confidence regarding talks on Kashmir. It's high time he spoke about it now."
Last month, the Prime Minister rejected a similar request by Leader of Opposition L K Advani, who wrote to him in connection with the Kashmir talks, saying diplomacy cannot be discussed in public.
Both former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani have cautioned against any hasty move in the peace process, especially with regard to Kashmir.
