NEW DELHI, June 24: India has reiterated that it will not enter into any discussions with Pakistan on the legal and constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir that had acceded to this country in 1947.``No Indian government will ever discuss the legal and constitutional status of Jammu & Kashmir. If anything is to be discussed, it will be Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,'' highly placed government sources said here today.The sources were rejecting claims made by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, that India had for the first time, after the second round of bilateral dialogue, accepted that Indian-held Kashmir was a disputed area.``India has never accepted nor will it ever be accepted that there is a dispute in our part of the Valley,'' the sources added.In the absence of foreign secretary Salman Haidar, who flew to Karachi for a two-day visit after the end of the talks on Monday, officials in the ministry of external affairs were unavailable for comment on the just-concluded second round.But the sources stressed that Sharif's interpretation of the joint statement issued at the conclusion of the second round in Islamabad was ``wrong''. Just because one of the eight identified issues of concern was `Jammu & Kashmir' did not mean, the sources said, that this focussed only on the Indian state.``He (Sharif) is wrong.In all of India's interactions with Pakistan, the phrase `Jammu & Kashmir' has been used to mean the entire, undivided state that existed before partition in 1947,'' the sources said.They clarified that any future mechanism set up to discuss this subject would discuss the entire state - the valley in India, Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, the northern areas that are centrally administered by Pakistan and even the part that has been illegally ceded to China by Islamabad.The sources were attempting to put at rest fears that by allowing the phrase `Jammu & Kashmir' to be used in isolation, any future discussions would focus on the Indian state. Asked why Nawaz Sharif had said this to the state-run radio, the sources declined to give reasons, only saying that ``it could, perhaps, be for domestic consumption.''The sources, meanwhile, pointed out that the top agenda item on `peace and security, including confidence-building measures' was one of those comprehensive concerns that included nuclear and missile issues, thinning out of troops in the valley.``We feel there is no harm in giving them a second chance. If they don't deliver, then we're not any worse off,'' the sources added.Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said that in its talks with Pakistan, India must seek the return of those portions of the state which were occupied by Pakistan in 1947-48, in accordance with the unanimous resolution passed by Parliament in February 1994. The head of the BJP's foreign affairs cell, Brajesh Mishra said the party ``Welcomes all possible steps (by the two countries) to prevent hostile propaganda and provocative action against each other. It is to be hoped that Pakistan would abide by this agreement. It should not be that this turns out to be a unilateral gesture by India''.He said the party was of the view that in order to create the necessary environment for the talks, there must first be a marked decrease in terrorism and other Pak-sponsored activities in Kashmir.
