Kashmir can be resolved: Kasuri

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 7

Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri today advised India and Pakistan to start thinking differently and check the current downslide in relations lest things should turn from bad to worse. He, however, expressed little hope of any immediate breakthrough in the ongoing impasse.

Kasuri, who was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan between 2002 and 2007, was speaking on the occasion of India-release of his 851-page book “Neither a hawk nor a dove an insider’s account of Pakistan’s foreign policy” at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi tonight.

Among the audience were former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani. The panel discussing the book included former Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Mani Shankar Aiyer, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit.

“We have fought five wars, but nothing has come out. We have POK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), you cannot take it. What you have (the other part of J&K), we cannot take it. We have tried and failed. Let’s think differently,” he said. Kasuri, who was the Foreign Affairs Minister in the General Parvez Musharraf’s Cabinet, said, “If you don’t correct the current downslide (in bilateral ties), it will go from bad to worse.” 

Kasuri was the Foreign Minister when the much-talked about four-point formula on resolving the J&K imbroglio was discussed and nearly accepted during the tenure of Manmohan Singh in India and Musharraf in Pakistan.

In his book he has mentioned the four-point formula and talks how the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government initiated dialogue during its tenure (1998-2004). On J&K, he said “We have major problems between us. J&K remains an issue and it’s resolvable.” Yashwant Sinha disagreed with Kasuri on having an uninterrupted dialogue, saying “there is no point in having a dialogue as it was muddying the waters. What is the purpose of talks if each time we emerge out of these with greater enmity”. 

Both Kasuri and Sinha agreed that back-channel negotiations with appointed points-persons and people-to-people contact are a doable alternative. Abdullah questioned Kasuri why Pakistan was keen to talk to only the Hurriyat Conference and not to the elected people in J&K. “You keep PoK, we don’t want it,” he argued while adding “India and Pakistan cannot live in a state of war. Either we live in happiness or destroy each other”.

Aiyer favoured “uninterrupted and un-interruptible” talks with Pakistan on all issues, including Kashmir and terrorism. Referring to India’s stand on “Pakistan-cannot-have-talks with Hurriyat”, Basit said, “Setting conditions has not worked in the past and will not work (in future).”

Manmohan Singh and Advani opted not to speak.