‘This Sept, India, Pak may have a pact’

“I think the agenda is pretty much set as far as Kashmir is concerned. It is September, 2007, that India and Pakistan are looking at, in terms of announcing something on Kashmir,” Mirwaiz told The Indian Express in an interview on Monday. “I would say that India and Pakistan are putting in a lot of efforts on how things should move on Kashmir. I don’t think there is anybody dictating the agenda. India and Pakistan have realised that they have to resolve the dispute. The feedback that we are getting is that things are on the right track.”

Echoing Kasuri, Mirwaiz said distinct signals about an imminent breakthrough on Kashmir were responsible for transforming the political debate on Kashmir in the recent past. “It is not that slogans of demilitarisation and self-rule have suddenly come into vogue in a vacuum. They fall neatly into the new context set by the Indo-Pak dialogue process and the dynamics generated by it,” Mirwaiz said.

Asked about the prevailing political uncertainty in Pakistan and the slipping grip of Musharraf, the Hurriyat Chairman said there was no threat to peace process from a successor government. “Hurriyat has been keenly watching the situation in Islamabad. But we don’t think it will make any material difference to the underpinnings of the dialogue process with India. On this, there is by and large a broad political consensus, which includes even religious groups like MMA (Muslim Mutahida Amal),” Mirwaiz said.

Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat had kept its communication lines open with the Opposition in Pakistan, including former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. “On my recent visit to Pakistan, I met almost all the major opposition leaders, including senior MMA leader Moulana Fazal-ur-Rehman. Apart from some minor reservations, there is a consensus on the process. So, we don’t harbour any apprehensions,” he said.

... contd.