Still too early for talks

One such initiative was the Lahore bus ride. But then the Pakistani Army chief, Pervez Musharraf, turned the tables on us by instigating the Kargil war. Despite this, the Government declared a unilateral ceasefire to encourage all those involved in the Kashmir issue to put an end to violence. Shri K C Pant was sent as the Centre’s interlocutor and was the PM’s envoy, in one sense, but his efforts remained inconclusive. Another opening was the Agra summit, but the episode proved Pakistan’s insincerity to our sincere approach.

December 13 pushed us to the edge of our patience. We then adopted a diplomatic offensive and initiated certain bold steps, including scrapping air, rail and train links with Pakistan. This gave a signal to the world that enough was enough, and we wouldn’t tolerate terrorism any more. We succeeded in isolating Pakistan at international fora and the world too started pressuring Pakistan to stop its sponsorship of terrorism. Today, tension still prevails between India and Pakistan, as is evident from the presence of troops at the borders.

In the midst of all this comes the Hurriyat’s proposal to talk to India and then Pakistan on Kashmir. There was a similar proposal two years ago, which the Government had rejected. What is the Hurriyat? It’s an amalgam of different outfits moving in different directions. Some of them have a pro-Pakistani attitude.

Some of them advocate independence and project themselves as being anti-Indian. The Government and the party’s stand is very clear: we won’t allow any third party mediation on Kashmir. We are open to the the views of Kashmiris but we are also proud to state that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.

Sunil Shastri is general secretary and spokesperson of the BJP