US pressures Pakistan over Kashmir peace process -- diplomats
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

NEW Delhi, Aug 11: Washington is pressuring Pakistan to help resuscitate the Kashmir peace process following the end of the ceasefire by the region's dominant militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen, western diplomats said Friday. While the US government has no precise plan for a solution to the long-running Kashmir conflict, it has been giving "considerable encouragement" to certain sections of the Pakistani government "to recommence" the peace process, one diplomat said.

Hizbul on Tuesday called off its unilateral ceasefire, announced on July 24, citing Indian intransigence over demands that peace talks with New Delhi should be "unconditional" and held with Pakistani participation. The consequences of the ceasefire withdrawal were hammered home when the Hizbul claimed responsibility for a car bomb Thursday in the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, Srinagar, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee described the attack as "an act of terror planned and executed at the behest of Pakistan." "This is yet another example of Islamabad's sustained campaign of cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and other parts of India," Vajpayee said. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher condemned the bombing as a "brutal attack" which "does nothing to advance the settlement in the Kashmir dispute."

At the same time, western diplomats in New Delhi argued that the peace process had not been completely buried by the ceasefire collapse and subsequent violence. "What is important is what happens on the ground. The test will be in three or four months," one diplomat said. He also pointed out that the Hizbul announcement of its ceasefire withdrawal had "kept the door open" for future discussions, while there was also a "very strong determination" within the Indian government to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute.

"The whole constituency (of Kashmir) wants peace," he said, adding that Vajpayee's scheduled visit to the United States in September would offer the Prime minister "an opportunity to add a new chapter to the history of his country." While New Delhi would like to see the peace process revive and gather pace, the diplomat said India would need "some time" to prepare the ground for a resumption of dialogue. Hardline elements within Vajapyee's Hindu nationalist BJP party are unhappy about talks with the Kashmiri militants, not to mention any dialogue with Pakistan.

For Washington, a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue would require the participation of both India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars over the divided region since independence in 1947. The South Asian rivals came close to another war during a two-month conflict along their disputed Kashmiri border last summer. Since then all official contacts have remained frozen. But despite the icy climate and the almost daily exchange of invective between New Delhi and Islamabad, unofficial contacts have been maintained. The Muslim insurgency in Indian Kashmir has claimed more than 25,000 lives since its launch in 1989. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting the militancy. Islamabad denies the charge but extends moral and diplomatic support to the unrest. ras/gh/mfb

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