New ideas on Kashmir may figure in talks

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is expected to come up with some new proposals for the settlement of Kashmir issue, other than President Pervez Musharraf's four-point plan, during the forthcoming Indo-Pak foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for May 21.


President Musharraf's plan called for a phased withdrawal of troops, local self-governance, no changes in the borders of Kashmir, and a joint supervision mechanism in Kashmir involving India and Pakistan.


However, official circles here said that the new PPP-led government was not likely to carry on with the Musharraf's four-point Kashmir plan.


During the ministerial meeting between Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is scheduled to reach here on May 20, and his counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on May 21, Islamabad and New Delhi are also likely to sign an agreement for the immediate declaration of arrests of each other's citizens, release of those crossing borders and the Line of Control inadvertently and consular access to all prisoners within three months of arrest.


The agreement, according to an official, was almost finalised. In addition to that the two sides were also likely to relax the visa regime thus doing away with the irritants linked to the issuance of visas to the people visiting Pakistan and India, he added.


Prior to the meeting of Indo-Pak foreign ministers, the two foreign secretaries will also hold their talks on May 20 for which Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is arriving here today (Monday). Menon will hold talks with his newly appointed counterpart Salman Bashir.


Media reports from New Delhi said that in the first high-level contact with the new democratic dispensation in Islamabad, India would also press for concrete action by Pakistan to end cross-border terrorism in the backdrop of renewed infiltration bids and terror attacks.


During the talks between Mukherjee and Qureshi on Wednesday, the Indian side would make it clear that it was keen to take its relations with Pakistan forward but that the atmosphere of peace was essential for the dialogue process to succeed, a report said.


The officials here said that besides terrorism and Kashmir, the two sides would discuss Siachen, Sir Creek and various Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) while reviewing the fourth round of composite dialogue after a lull in the dialogue process.


Indian Foreign Minister would also call on President Musharraf and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani before the conclusion of his visit to Islamabad, said an official.