Govt. realigning J&K policy

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, APRIL 7. Unwilling to lose the Kashmir initiative, the Government is making a fresh effort to begin a peace process in the troubled State.

According to highly-placed sources, a new diplomatic initiative on Kashmir is on the anvil. The Government may not be averse to de-linking Kashmir from the seven issues plaguing the relations with Pakistan. In other words, it may no longer insist on a composite dialogue framework of 1997 in which Kashmir, though highly important, was one of the issues on the agenda.

Sources point to three reasons behind the impending shift in Indian diplomatic stance towards Kashmir and Pakistan.

First, the shift could be a reflection of assertion by a new team in the Government. According to sources, Mr. Jaswant Singh, his special adviser on security, Mr. Arun Singh, and the chief negotiator on Kashmir, Mr. K. C. Pant, may well become a powerful triumvirate steering Kashmir diplomacy. Their emergence may reflect the shifting post-Tehelka power equations in the Government. Kashmir so far has been almost solely handled the Prime Minister's Office.

Second, a show of flexibility, without a compromise in basic national interest is likely to go down well in the United States, where a new round of diplomatic engagement has been recently initiated. In fact, Mr. Singh is already in Washington and has met the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, and other officials of his administration.

Third, as a spin-off, Pakistan's Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf may find it easier to ``sell'' the idea of a dialogue with India to a surcharged domestic audience in case Kashmir is accorded a higher profile.

While the diplomatic track has been activated, the Army has begun hardening its disposition, especially against the pan-Islamic insurgents in the Poonch-Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, the Army carried out pin-pointed strikes against five Lashkar-e-Taiba militants close to the Banihal pass. Three other insurgents, belonging to the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen were also killed near Surankote, not far from Poonch.

These attacks follow the change of guard in the Army's Nagrota- based XVI core, responsible for the area. Lt. Gen. S.B.S Yadava has taken over from Lt. Gen. A. S. Khanna, who is the new deputy Army chief. The XVI corps area, incidentally, was subjected to a wave of attacks by the Lashkar soon after the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, extended the ceasefire by another three months.

In a related development, the Hizb commander in Kashmir, Mr. Abdul Majid Dar, has sought a tripartite political dialogue involving India and Pakistan. In an interview to a web portal, he however, did not set any preconditions or insist on the Hizb's inclusion in the talks.

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