Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan must be settled by next year.

Kashmir must be settled by next year, says FM,Kasuri By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri has said that the best time to settle the Kashmir problem with India is between now and December 2006, because 2007 will be full of political activity in Pakistan and the air thick with issues such as President Musharraf’s uniform. In an interview to be published on Friday in the New York-based journal, India Abroad, Kasuri told correspondent Sushant Sareen, “We would like to have the Kashmiris sitting at the table and get it out and over with and have a solution, the sooner, the better. I know the political reality in Pakistan. The best chance of an opening is between now and December 31, 2006.” He said Pakistan has been talking to India “very openly and very frankly” and has been trying to tell New Delhi that “the best way is to sit across the table.” The foreign minister denied that Pakistan was talking to India under external pressure. According to him, “If there is pressure on India and Pakistan, it is because both the leaderships have invested a lot. If this fails, both the leaderships will suffer is some way or another and there will be political consequences.” On allegations of “pressure,” the minister said, “There is nobody who can tell Pakistan to talk to India or else. It is humiliating. We will never take it. We are talking because we think it serves our national interest, not because any country is dictating to us. No country can dictate to Pakistan. It is utter nonsense when people say that because the Americans have said you do this, we are doing it.” Kasuri confirmed sketchy reports published here and there that the Islamabad meeting between President Musharraf and former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had some had very rough moments. He said, “It was very, very straight talk on both sides, which we did not expect. I don’t want to repeat it. President Musharraf is a straight talker by temperament.” He added that there were “no recriminations but very blunt talk. Anything that had to be said was said ... I was very, very apprehensive. But it ended well. They realised the responsibility and wanted to make their minds very clear. President Musharraf stressed the centrality of Kashmir and Prime Minister Vajpayee on what he called terrorism. None of them pulled punches. The talk was so blunt, I have not seen in other conversations that I thought this (was it.) But ... it cleared up the air and everyone understood what the other wanted.” Home |Daily Times, Lahore. Pakistan June 22nd,2005.