Home »Top Stories » India rejects Musharraf’s new proposal on Kashmir

  • News Desk
  • Jan 8th, 2006
  • Comments Off on India rejects Musharraf’s new proposal on Kashmir
President General Pervez Musharraf said he was disappointed with a two-year peace process with India and accused New Delhi of not responding to his proposals to end nearly 60 years of enmity between the nuclear-armed nations.

The wobbly peace process is making slow progress and relations face a new chill over New Delhi's charges that Islamabad has done little to stop violence directed against India.

"There's not much of a response from the Indian side. That is why the disappointment," the President said in an interview aired on Saturday by Indian TV channel CNN-IBN.

The President, however, floated a new proposal to bring peace to Kashmir.

He said Pakistan would ensure there was no violence in occupied Kashmir if India withdrew its troops from occupied Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla.

"Pakistan will be with the Indian government, with the Kashmiris, to ensure that there is total peace and tranquillity within these three cities," the President said.

But India was quick to reject the proposal.

"Any demilitarisation or any redeployment of security forces within the territory of India is a sovereign decision of the government of India and cannot be dictated by any foreign government," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The President also launched a fresh round of "cricket diplomacy" between the two countries and invited Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan to watch a cricket match between the teams of the two countries.

The Indian spokesman said he did not have an immediate response to the invitation.

Copyright Reuters, 2006


the author

Top
Close
Close