First, the facts: this most likely isn’t Musharraf’s original idea. Since May 14,2001, Bull’s Eye has made a similar proposal at least six times. Elsewhere, the tally would be over a dozen.
Mir Khursheed, a J&K politician, was formerly attached to the PoK prime minister. He had close links with the ISI. He then switched to India and developed close links with RAW. He gets around. He asked me for a written proposal along the lines of my articles, for distribution at a seminar of Pakistan’s Kashmir leaders held in Dubai. I obliged him with a note.
Khursheed later claimed that the note had not only been distributed in the seminar but was also delivered to President Musharraf. One cannot say if this was fact or FIB. But shortly after his claim, President Musharraf did propose the outline of his present Kashmir solution, which parallels the note.
My note proposed self-determination for all sectors to choose India, Pakistan or independence. Musharraf arbitrarily, without referendum, decides Jammu and Ladakh be considered part of India; Gilgit and Baltistan part of Pakistan; the Valley and a part of PoK as a grey area requiring a solution. His solution: autonomous self-rule for all parts of Kashmir; free movement within the undivided state; demilitarisation by both India and Pakistan; overall administration to be jointly undertaken by India and Pakistan.
Does this dovetail with my proposal? No. It misses out the main precondition: establishment of a South Asian Union as context. Who will defend Kashmir? There cannot be joint defence in Kashmir alone. There has to be overall South Asian joint defence.
India’s leaders become tongue-tied when discussing China. But Musharraf deserves the blunt truth. A South Asian Union as a whole can have excellent relations with China. But China cannot be part of that union. China must confine itself to its own sphere of influence. Pakistan’s defence alliance with China will have to end. Pakistan’s FTA agreement with China will have to end. It would have to be renegotiated by the proposed South Asian Union. This is the bald truth. No Indian leader will say this. But it has to be said. Otherwise peace talks will get nowhere.
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
