Musharraf moots 4-step to resolve Kashmir row

He said first India and Pakistan must come forward to hold dialogue, then accept the centrality of the Kashmir dispute, discard whatever is unacceptable to India, Pakistan and Kashmiris, and lastly, evolve a solution which suits to all the three parties.

Musharraf, who was in Washington on a three-day official visit, said that the US officials accept that the step-by-step approach was the realistic way for moving forward toward the resolution of the Kashmir dispute for peace in South Asia.

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He said this while speaking to newsmen after meeting the US legislators at the Committees of International Relations in Washington on Thursday, The News reported.

Earlier, during the meeting with the legislators, he urged the House and the Senate to review the situation in the context of human rights violations, such as killings taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. He once again favoured third-party mediation between India and Pakistan to resolve the bilateral issues.

The Pakistan President said his country wanted peace and cordial relations with India, and that it could come only after resolving the Kashmir issue.

Apparently hinting at not giving up Kashmir merely for the sake of ensuring peace in the region, the erstwhile military ruler said, "every country has an inherent right to guard its sovereignty. Pakistan also talks on the basis of sovereign equality and guards it jealously. Nothing can coerce us and no one can dictate to us on these parameters."

AFP adds: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday renewed his push for a Mideast-style peace roadmap on Kashmir, despite India's categorical rejection of the idea.

Musharraf outlined his four-point plan designed to bring the bitter rivals sufficiently close to make major concessions needed for a permanent solution to their fued over the divided Himalayan region in talks with US members of Congress.

Two days after a summit with President George W. Bush, Musharraf warned that an immediate search for solutions to the conflict would fail, as they would be rejected by extremists on both sides.

"Don't talk of solutions," Musharraf told reporters after meeting members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

"If you talk of solutions now, you will not make any progress. Therefore go step by step, cross the bridge when you come to the bridge, and that is hit for a solution when you reach a stage where the solution is possible."