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South Asia: India Offers Talks to Resolve Kashmir Issue Speaking Friday from the contested Kashmir region, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee proposed Indian-Pakistani talks to resolve the long-standing dispute over Kashmir — a potential flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed rivals, according to the Washington Post (see GSN, April 18). Vajpayee made the offer during a public address in the Kashmiri city of Srinagar — the first public address by an Indian prime minister in the disputed region since 1986. “Problems can be resolved by talks,” he said. “We are ready.” Noting the failure of past peace efforts, Vajpayee said the Indian offer had to be reciprocated by Pakistan, which India has accused of supporting cross-border terrorism. “We again extend the hand of friendship, but the hands should be extended from both sides,” Vajpayee said. “The decision to live together should be made from both sides” (John Lancaster, Washington Post, April 19). Pakistan today welcomed the offer, saying it was ready to hold talks on Kashmir at any time and without preconditions. “We hope that immediate steps will be taken so that the dialogue process can start,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan. “Dialogue can start only when there are no preconditions attached to it,” he added (Reuters/Washington Post, April 21). One of the largest Islamic militant groups fighting in Kashmir, however, has rejected India’s peace talks offer, according to the Associated Press. “We believe that Vajpayee’s offer is a deception to gain time to crush the freedom movement in Indian-occupied Kashmir,” Salim Hashmi, a spokesman for the guerrilla group Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, said Saturday in Islamabad. “We will not silence our guns just because of this offer,” he said. Any talks over Kashmir will not succeed without the participation of guerilla groups, Hashmi said. “If they exclude us from the talks, they will not achieve anything,” Hashmi said, adding, “If Indians are sincere, they should also invite representatives of Kashmir” (Munir Ahmed, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 20).
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