'India committed to pragmatic solution to Kashmir'
Press Trust of India Posted online: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 at 1903 hours IST
New Delhi, February 1: Ruling out transfer of Indian territory, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the UPA government was committed to a ‘pragmatic and practical’ solution to all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, including Jammu and Kashmir.
Replying to a question on the Kashmir issue, Singh told reporters that he could not do certain things, such as negotiate on transfer of the Indian territory.
But, he said India was committed to a "pragmatic and practical solution to all outstanding issues between the two countries, including Jammu and Kashmir."
Singh said there had been movement forward in the Indo-Pak relations, noting changes such as enhanced people-to-people contact, the bus services between the two countries and opening up of five points along the LoC for the divided families on the two sides to meet.
About the internal aspect of the Kashmir issue, Singh said the government was prepared to interact with all shades of opinion in the state who were willing to leave the path of violence, adding that after coming to office he had interacted with a number of separatist Kashmiri leaders such as Yaseen Mallik and Sajjad Lone.
