Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said his country will give up its claim to Kashmir if India accepts his four-point solution that includes demilitarisation and “self-governance with a joint supervision mechanism”.

In an interview with NDTV, when asked if Pakistan was prepared to give up its claim to Kashmir, Musharraf said: “We will have to... Yes... If this solution comes up.”

He was referring to his four-point solution: make no change in boundaries of Kashmir, make borders and LoC irrelevant, have staggered demilitarisation and have autonomy or self-governance with a joint supervision mechanism.

“We are at the moment, both India and Pakistan... on the same position as we were since 1948. But we both... I am saying ... we both ought to be prepared to give up all that we have been saying. And this includes all this... If we reach an agreement where we are giving self-governance, yes indeed, we... that is it...,” Musharraf said, according to an NDTV press release.

Asked whether by talking about self-governance, he wanted to say no independence for Kashmir, Musharraf said, “Yes, we are against independence”. He said even India was against independence for the state. “One is giving up that clearly and I say, yes am giving up... There is a provision in that... Am not giving up... At all... But one is prepared to give up, in case India leaves its stated position also,” he said.

In South Block, officials were not willing to comment until they had seen the interview. But they pointed out that the idea of joint management and control of Kashmir had been floated in the past. In their opinion, Islamabad was looking to obtain a greater say on the Indian side of Kashmir, something which it has not been able to achieve all these years through its stated position favouring plebiscite and implementation of UN resolutions.

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