New Delhi, Sept 14: Denouncing Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's vitriolic attack on India at the UN as one which took both the countries further away from solving the Kashmir issue, former prime minister I K Gujral today said that no dialogue will be possible with Pakistan as long as its motive was separation of the valley from India.
"It seemed as if Musharraf was not sobre. His utterances at the UN were strange, not well thought out and one which created more distance. Dialogues can not take place with Pakistan if they try to separate Kashmir from India," he said at a seminar here on 'Kashmir imbroglio: a quest for an
equitable resolution'.
Gujral said that Musharraf must understand that for any dialogue to happen the 1975 Indo-Pak accord, which re-indorses Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the inviolability of Kashmir's accession to India, must be the basis.
Charging the Pakistan army with causing the "breakdown"of dialogue between the two neighbouring countries, Gujral said, "It is the vested interest of the Pakistan army not to have any understanding with India.”
"Over 50 per cent of Pakistan's budget is allotted to the army and if Kashmir ceases to be an issue then they lose all their privileges," he added.
The recent events in Afghanistan will for sure have a "deep impact" on the situation in Kashmir, Gujral said, adding that the global condemnation of terrorism in Afghanistan and in Kashmir has already put Musharraf on the defensive.
Advocating the presence of more foreign diplomats and human rights organisations as election observers in Kashmir, he said, "It will lend more credibility to the elections as there won't be any rigging in such a scenario.”
Bureau Report
Bureau Report
