As the Hurriyat delegation led by its chairman Maulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari arrived here on Tuesday, not only the Americans, but the Chinese too are pushing India to implement some confidence building measures in Jammu and Kashmir to carry the message of peace to the general populace. China in pressing both India and Pakistan to end hostilities. It was learnt here that Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao played a significant role in bringing together the latest peace initiative between the two countries. Though the notion of a "secret pact" to share intelligence between India and Pakistan that led the recent killing of top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders remains mere speculation, experts here believe that the implementation of a the "general amnesty" idea would be feasible only after the eliminating the "active and hardened types."
The United States and China are concerned about "safe passage" for foreign militants. Pakistan would never be able to accept them through the so-called "safe corridors" as this would only establish its role in "cross border terrorism". The big question is what to do with the non-Pakistani militants, Arabs, Chechens etc.
China began to take an active role in Indo-Pakistan affairs after Prime Minister Vajpayee's visit last year to Beijing. Of late, Beijing is also concerned about its Sinkiang province and recently it provided a list of wanted men from there believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
The talks that began in New Delhi on January 22nd between the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will be the first between the two sides since a revolt erupted in Kashmir in 1989.
"Kashmir is burning, people are dying daily. One of our main efforts will be to press India for a ceasefire with militants," said Maulana Abbas Ansari, the Hurriyat chairman. "I hope India will agree to the ceasefire. This will push the peace process forward." Omar Farooq, one of the five Hurriyat leaders taking part in the talks, added: "We will suggest to India to declare a ceasefire with the Mujahideen operating in Kashmir. We want an end to violence as this will help the peace process."
India and Pakistan agreed late in November 2003 to a ceasefire along the Line of Control. But separatist violence has continued in Kashmir despite peace moves between the two countries.
Note: President Pervez Musharraf recently stated that the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir could not become an international border. The two sides agreed earlier this month to resume their dialogue in February. The president ruled out any unilateral shift in Pakistan's position on the Kashmir issue. "Now the question is moving forward," he added. As the next step he proposed to eliminate whatever is unacceptable to India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people. Finding solutions would be a later stage.
Musharraf said there were extremists in both Pakistan and India and the leadership on both sides would have to show courage to stand up to them.
Meanwhile violence flared in Indian Kashmir as nine more people, five of them militants, died in the region, the police reported. Troops shot dead four militants in three clashes in Udhampur, Rajouri and Anantnag districts. Elsewhere in Udhampur, militants triggered a landmine blast, killing one policeman and injuring four others who were on a routine patrol. The region's dominant militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the blast. Police said that a top-ranking militant of Harkat-e-Jehadi Islami died in a clash in southern Doda district.
