Pak moots demilitarisation to solve Kashmir issue

ISLAMABAD: After his plethora of proposals on Kashmir over the last two years, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf now says that ‘demilitarisation’ is his ‘final resolution’ of the dispute.

“I have proposed demilitarisation as a ... final resolution. Demilitarise Kashmir, give self governance to people of Kashmir with a joint management arrangement on top. This is an idea I am proposing," Musharraf said in a programme on CNBC TV.

“We could debate and modify the idea but we have to come up with an idea of final settlement of the dispute to the acceptance of India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir. It is for people of Kashmir now to generate the kind of ideas and pressure on the Indian government on some form of a resolution," he said.

The General also lauded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent interactions with Kashmiri groups. “I am very glad to say that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been interacting with all groups of Kashmiris. Obviously, he is talking of some kind of resolution, what else we are talking.”

He said he would discuss Kashmir and other issues with Singh when the Prime Minister visits Pakistan.

Musharraf stressed on a bilateral track to resolve the Kashmir problem. "We are going on a bilateral track and Pakistan is going along with India. We do realise that we have to resolve this dispute bilaterally. I am not at all multilateralising it."