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Analysis: Musharraf's Kashmir Offer

Council on Foreign Relations

December 12, 2006
Author: Carin Zissis

President Pervez Musharraf said last week on New Delhi Television that Pakistan will give up its claim on Kashmir if India accepts a four-point resolution, including autonomy for the region under a joint government with Indian, Pakistani, and Kashmiri representation. Within days, a spokeswoman from Pakistan’s foreign ministry followed up by asserting that Islamabad did not consider the territory an “integral part” of Pakistan. Tasnim Aslam, whose remarks at a press conference in Islamabad drew criticism (The News) from Pakistani journalists, said that conflict between India and Pakistan was over the Kashmiris right to “decide their future” rather than claims on the India-controlled area of the Himalayan region. The comments have stirred speculation about whether Pakistan is making a break with decades-old policy or merely maneuvering to fend off international criticism on other fronts.

In the television interview, Musharraf also said that as part of the potential agreement, Pakistan would give up its former demand, based on a 1948 UN resolution, for Kashmiri people to hold a referendum to decide their representation. The dispute over the territory sparked a pair of wars between the two countries, which have both claimed Kashmir since their partition in 1947. Shortly after that, Kashmir’s Hindu leader chose to join India, setting off a conflict that left the predominantly Muslim area divided between the two countries along a border called the Line of Control. Since 2004, the two nations have engaged in peace talks. They have hit periodic roadblocks, most recently after India linked Pakistan’s intelligence agency to the July 2006 Mumbai bombings.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.