Ansari Group’s Kashmir roadmap-made in USA By Abdul Latif Bhat

Ansari Group’s Kashmir roadmap-made in USA

By Abdul Latif Bhat

Al-Jazeerah, May 6, 2004

The Hurriyat Conference led by Shia cleric Abbas Ansari is likely to discuss the proposed roadmap on Kashmir with the public on May 21. Its leaders would also share the outcome of their talks with Indian Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. The Hurriyat faction held two rounds of talks with the hardline Hindu leader. Earlier, senior Hurriyat leader and spokesman of the group, Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat claimed that the Hurriyat has prepared a roadmap to resolve the Kashmir problem. However, the Kashmirwatch.com study reveals that group’s roadmap is based on the roadmap circulated by the Americans earlier. Strangely, the Hurriyat roadmap is a verbatim copy of the American roadmap. It was American high official retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner who told a prominent Pakistani at an exclusive dinner in April 2003, in Kuwait City two days before he landed in Baghdad. "We will ensure that a permanent solution of the perennial Kashmir problem is in place by December, 2004 at the latest, "a Pakistani English daily carried the statement of Gen. Garner by quoting the unnamed guest. Garner was further quoted as telling the guest. "A Kashmir roadmap will follow in the wake of the West Asia roadmap aimed at resolving the Palestinian issue on a permanent basis,". US embassy in Islamabad played a key role in preparing first part of a series based on official documents in the same period. At that times an Indian website classified the basic steps of the said roadmap as below; • Press Pakistan to prevent the infiltration of ‘terrorists’ across the Line of Control. • Urge Pakistan to move against ‘terrorists’ and help it bring them to justice by improving its law-enforcement capabilities. • Facilitate an Indo-Pakistan dialogue on Kashmir. The above three steps have been achieved. The future targets are as; In 2004, both India and Pakistan are to agree to jointly monitor the Line of Control, while 'political leaders from both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir [start a] dialogue'. In 2005, civilian traffic should begin moving regularly across the LOC. Of course, long before that militancy in the state is expected to be quelled. In 2005, when civilian traffic is flowing freely across the 740km LoC, Kashmiri political leaders are expected to 'assume prominence in national Kashmir political discourse' and a 'framework for eventual political resolution of Kashmir' is likely to be put in place, according to the documents. The paper has fixed year 2005 as the target year for solving the protracted Kashmir issue. In that year, America seeks to achieve: (A) Regular movement of civilian traffic across the LoC; (B) Kashmiri politicians assume prominence in political discourse; and (C) Evolve framework for eventual political resolution of the Kashmir problem.

Richard Armitage talks to AB Vajpayee in New Delhi on May 10,2003

American officials continued to deny the reports of having any roadmap. On May 8 ,2003 Armitage answered in negative to GEO TV to a question when he was asked to comment on roadmap of America for the solution of Kashmir problem, at the US ambassador's residence in Islamabad. Former US ambassadors Frank Wisner and Nicholoas Platt, and retired US state department official Dennis Kux visted India in December 2003. The delegation was part of a task force constituted by two prestigious US think tanks, the Council for Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Asia Society to find a way out of India-Pakistan problems. Its report on "New priorities in South Asia: US policy toward India, Pakistan and Afghanistan" was released in America in October 2003. The report was distributed in official circles and it had also been handed over to the Hurriyat leaders by the US embassy and its representatives. The delegation discussed it with the Indian and Kashmiri leadership.

Three key Hurriyat leaders - Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Bilal Gani Lone are being portrayed as moderates both by the US and the Indian circles to help facilitate this roadmap. They have had many meetings with the US authorities in the past to this effect. The US diplomats had meetings with various Indian interlocuters as well.

Frank Wisner, former US ambassador India (1994-1997)

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Dec 09, 2003 , Nicholas Platt, a former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, said that the ceasefire had taken place due to the "good sense" shown by the Indian and Pakistani Governments. "Both sides are trying to outdo each other in moving the process forward," he said. Mr. Platt and his other colleagues, Frank Wisner, and Dennis Kux, who earlier also visited Pakistan and Afghanistan, were of the view that the people they met in Pakistan felt that the time was ripe for a detente in South Asia. The report calls for a more active US approach towards solving the Kashmir issue and a more forward looking, consistent engagement with India and Pakistan. It says the US should immediately set up a special working group in Washington on Kashmir and India-Pakistan tensions. The report says: "In a change of heart that reflects improved relations with Washington, New Delhi no longer opposes US efforts to facilitate a reduction of tensions, although it continues to be against outside mediation." The report was released in November 2003 a little before India and Pakistan took major strides including agreeing to carry out bilateral negotiations on all outstanding issues. The report says no settlement is possible in which "either India or Pakistan" feel humiliated. It also warns that any "adjustments in borders" should be approached with extreme care and can proceed only with the consent of all the concerned parties. It also repeats the US commitment that Pakistan should not use "violence across the LoC" as an "instrument of national policy". The report says Kashmiris must be fully consulted in the process and adds that "any lasting settlement is likely to require some change in the way the areas populated by Kashmiri speakers are governed." For larger peace in South Asia the study suggests some initiatives between India and Pakistan: - A lasting ceasefire along the LoC, followed by a thinning out of troops on either side of the LoC. Simultaneously India should acquire sensors and related equipment to boost its capability to monitor infiltration. The study suggests that India drop its opposition to international monitoring teams along the LoC. - Setting up of Nuclear Risk Reduction Centres like the US and Russia did during the Cold War. Also, agreements to reduce misunderstanding regarding missile movements, especially flight tests. - Demilitarise Siachen: Besides saving much money the agreement would be a "visible demonstration of Indian and Pakistani ability to resolve a long-standing dispute relating to Kashmir". - Increased India-Pakistan trade and economic cooperation. - More people-to-people contacts. - Reduction in hate propaganda. Though the report has no detailed intricacies of how to approach and draw up the peace map, official sources say the study is balanced and has been considered at various levels.

Only a moth later Indian government on Jan 13, 2004 sent an invitation to the All Parties Hurriyat Conference led by Maulana Abbas Ansari for talks with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on January 22.

"The deputy prime minister will like to meet the Hurriyat leaders on January 22," the letter signed by the special secretary home read.

After accepting the invitation former APHC chairman Mirwaiz Omer Farooq told a news web portal on the same day ,"All parties should have a flexible approach and key is initiation of dialogue process. The solution will follow. Focus has to be on process initially and not the solution."

For the first time people heard the word roadmap from Mirwaiz , “We have a roadmap, which we will present to both governments (india and Pakistan) for Kashmir resolution,". It was Jan 16 2003 when Mirwaiz told Friday prayers at Srinagar Jamia Masjid that he was shown detailed plans for solving Kashmir during his last visit to the US (in the month of September 2002). The basic features of the roadmap are; (i)U.S.diplomacy would facilitate —not arbitrate or mediate —Indian and Pakistani efforts to manage their tensions and to create an improved environment that even-tually will permit a solution of the Kashmir dispute.

(ii)track Kashmir developments and discussions between New Delhi,Srinagar,and Islamabad

(iii))provide ideas,guidance,and instructions to U.S.chiefs of mission in India and Pakistan and senior visitors to the region on how progress can best be achieved

(iv)Pakistan should be pressed more vigorously to make good on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ’s pledge to stop infiltration across the LOC.

(v)India should be urged to lighten the pressure on Kashmiris from security forces as militancy declines.

(vi)Pakistan should alter its negotiating strategy of holding all bilateral differences hostage to progress toward a Kashmir settlement.

(vii)India should strive harder to reach an understanding with the elected Jammu and Kashmir State government to permit greater political autonomy and spur economic development.

(viii)A plausible place to start India-Pakistan discussions would be working out a comprehensive cease-fire along the LOC,the most likely flashpoint of wider conflict.

(ix)Other issues that should be addressed include steps to reduce the risk of nuclear war,to resolve the Siachen glacier dispute,to promote bilateral trade,to ease restrictions on the movement of people,and to reduce hate propaganda.

(x)Promoting People-to-People Contacts.Nonofficial visits and dialogue between business,cultural,media,and other groups can play a positive role in reducing India-Pakistan tensions.

(xi)Any adjustments in borders should be approached with extreme care and can proceed only with the consent of all the concerned parties.Territory cannot change hands through use of force or terrorism.Support for violence across the LOC should no longer be used by Pakistan as an instrument of national policy.

(xii)Kashmiris must be fully consulted in the course of determining the final resolution of the state ’s future.Any lasting settlement is likely to require some change in the way the areas populated by Kashmiri speakers are governed.Proposals for various degrees of autonomy and special status have been put forward.Other ideas may be forthcoming.All deserve a serious hearing.

Observers have analysed it as;

*It divides region and involves the administration of both India and Pakistan in the Kashmir Valley,i.e. the Hindu dominated regions of Ladakh and Jammu should remain with India; parts of the northern areas should merge with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir; and the Valley should remain under the dual control of India and Kashmir.

*In the Hurriyat’s vision of a “reunited Kashmir”, both Indian and Pakistani currencies would be valid tenders but the defence of the state would rest with Pakistan. *India and Pakistan will have an equal role in defence, foreign affairs, currency and communication matters. *According to the draft proposal, which was being given final touches by the top Hurriyat leadership, the amalgam has suggested that both Indian and Pakistani forces will jointly man the International Border of "undivided" Jammu and Kashmir and the currency of both the countries will be acceptable in the State, insiders within the amalgam said. *The draft proposal also opines that both the countries will speak on behalf of the State in all international and regional fora in tandem, thus "taking care" of the foreign affairs, the sources said. *The proposal also clarifies that such a "sub-sovereign state" will have no "expansionist policy" and would act as virtual bridge between India and Pakistan by providing its way even for boosting exports of the two countries *The "undivided state" will choose a Government which will administer Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir roadmap is revolving round the report constituted by task force of US think-tanks under the title, “New priorities in South Asia: US policy toward India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

The writer is the editor of www.kashmirwatch.com who can be reached at editor@kashmirwatch.com

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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