Washington, June 27: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf renewed his push for a Mideast-style peace roadmap on Kashmir, despite India`s categorical rejection of the idea. Musharraf outlined his four-point plan designed to bring the bitter rivals sufficiently close to make major concessions needed for a permanent solution to their feud over the divided Himalayan region in talks with US members of Congress.
Two days after a summit with President George W. Bush, Musharraf warned that an immediate search for solutions to the conflict would fail, as they would be rejected by extremists on both sides.
"Don`t talk of solutions," he told reporters yesterday after meeting members of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "If you talk of solutions now, you will not make any progress. Therefore go step by step, cross the bridge when you come to the bridge, and that is hit for a solution when you reach a stage where the solution is possible," said Musharraf.
But India quickly shot down the idea with Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha making it clear that New Delhi could never agree to outside involvement to resolve the half-century-old dispute.
"We have repeatedly said there is no third party role in the bilateral dialogue. There is no question of three at the table," Sinha said on a television interview. India and Pakistan have recently adopted a raft of confidence-building measures including a planned exchange of diplomats and resumption of transport links to ease the way to dialogue.
Musharraf said his four-point plan would start with the two sides deciding to talk to one another.
Stage two would see both sides accept the centrality of the Kashmir dispute to their soured relations. He said stage three would be the "elimination process of eliminating whatever is unacceptable to India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir," without further elaborating.
Stage four would involve "trying to think of a solution which is genuine for India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir." Bureau Report