15 June 2001

KASHMIR: MUSHARRAF SAYS HE WANTS TO CHANGE HISTORY

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf Friday night said he was coming to India with an "open mind", hoping to change the history "and have a new beginning" to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

"I am going (to India) to change history and if India cooperated we shall be creating a new history," the general said in reply to questions at a very lengthy "Face the Nation" programme of over two hours telecast by Pakistan Television (PTV) in its worldwide telecast.

He said he would be talking to politicians as well as the Kashmiris (of Pak-occupied Kashmir) to give them "guarantee that their rights will be always kept in front" during his talks with India. He would be holding wide-ranging consultations from June 20 to 30, he said.

Asked if he has thought about the yardstick of minimum two or three gains to gauge success of his trip to India, Musharraf wriggled out saying frankly he had "thought a lot but it was not possible to discuss here" but he can only say that "Kashmir is the core issue." He said "this is the base line" for the talks as he was quite clear in his mind that he was going to India primarily to talk about Kashmir.

Interrupted to know if the Iran-India gas pipeline was also on the agenda, he shot back that the gas pipeline "unki pareshani hai, hamari nahi (is their problem, not ours)" and that "hum taiyar hai (we are ready) if they want the pipeline through Pakistan. But it was all up to India as to whether they would like offshore pipeline or buy liquified gas at 30 per cent extra cost.

When pointed out that India has been talking of putting all pending eight disputes between the two countries on the agenda, Musharraf said his short reply was: "My agenda is clear. Kashmir is the agenda. We must talk of Kashmir. Uske alava aur kuchh discuss karna chahe to theek (Anything else can be discussed) but not acceptable if there are no talks on Kashmir."

He hoped that India is quite clear about his stand in the matter and he pointed out that even in the invitation letter of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee there is "acceptance that the core issue is Kashmir" as the letter talks of restoration of all issues to restore peace and harmony in Jammu and Kashmir.

Musharraf, however, regretted the Indian External Affairs Minister's statement that whole of Kashmir is part of India. "Is tarah se to hum aage nahi bad sakenge (This way we would not be able to progress)," he said while hoping that it was "only a statement or else we cannot move forward with dialogue."

Declining to go into details and nuances of the upcoming talks with Vajpayee, the Pakistani military ruler agreed that Kashmir remains an "unfinished agenda" between India and Pakistan since participation. He said he was, however, looking forward to the summit as resolution of the Kashmir dispute amicably for the betterment of the South Asia as also the betterment of Pakistan and India.

Pointing out that he had used the term "cautious optimism" while responding to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's invitation for talks, Musharraf said he was quite hopeful that "my counterparts in India would also show open mindedness" in resolving the Kashmir dispute. He can only hope that the Kashmir issue would not be lost once again as has been the history of all rounds of talks between India and Pakistan since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru.

He was responding to a pointer by a member from the public invited to participate in the programme that India had backed out every time from resolving the Kashmir dispute and as such he was going to India with what expectations in the light of the past experience of 50 years.

Asked to explain the "flexibility" he had stressed to adopt in his talks with India, Musharraf said the term "flexible" may be causing confusion and as such he would like to point out that he was going to India "with open mind directly proportionate to the open mindedness the other side shows."

Most of the questions posed to Musharraf in the programme related to the internal situation in Pakistan, the most important one coming from the editor of Urdu daily Nawai Waqt who was "blunt" in wondering if the General was planning to stay in power for the next five years by harping on a 5-year plan for revival of Pakistan's economy.

Musharraf, however, was quick in pointing out that he did not say that the economy would economy only after five years. What he wanted to stress was that "Pakistan shall come out of the debt trap" and stressed that "our honour, our dignity are at stake because of the economic malaise" created by most part of the government's budget going in the debt servicing.

Pointing out the dilemma of preventing debt trap by borrowing more and taking more debts essential prerequisite for development, the General said his government has formulated a long-term strategy spanning five years which will be revealed in the budget on Monday and which would try to establish "compatibility between the military strength and economic strength" of Pakistan.

Claiming that Pakistan has shown "credible and reliable management" in the past one and a half years of his rule, he hoped the World Bank and IMF would provide Pakistan the "breathing space from debt" by giving more loans at the lowest interest rates and rescheduling the debt liability. He pointed out that it was only because of the regained credibility that Pakistan could get 350 million dollars from the World Bank at zero per cent interest and that too repayable after 35 years.

Agriculture and Information Technology are going to be his two topmost priorities for reviving the economy, he said and pointed out that he does not believe in policies of "short-term gain" when asked about the plight of the poor from the spiralling prices. He said he does not believe in the policies of subsidy and welfare at the cost of the nation. Subsidy can be given only if the nation is "ameer" (rich), he said adding that the subsidy was possible "only when there is money in the kitty" or otherwise "na mulk rahega na hum rahenge (neither the nation will survive nor will I)." END