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Now that Pakistan's CE, General Pervez Musharraf has accepted the invitation of the Indian PM, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, what do you think should be the agenda of the meeting to ensure lasting peace in the region?

Please send your opinions at
vf@jang.com.pk

Your Opinion

1. The central aim of the agenda should be peace and progress between the two countries. Pakistan must respect the 'accession of Jammu & Kashmir' to India, which took place legally and was accepted by all. All these years, Pakistan had been the oppressor and India the
   oppressed. Pakistan must realize the fact that all the wars initiated by them brought only misery to themselves. Apart from losing all the wars with India, they even lost their East Pakistan. For achieving peace, Pakistan must cooperate with India instead of resorting to their regular hate-India attitude since the last 53 years.
   GIRI RAJU,
   Chennai, India
   
   
2. The coming talks between India and Pakistan must be seen in the global perspective. Kashmir is no longer a bilateral dispute. Let us see the facts related to it today:
   
   India can’t afford to leave Kashmir, as that will tempt many other nationalities in India to seek the same end.
   People of Kashmir are not with India.
   Pakistan can’t afford to give up the State, from where the originating rivers are keeping Pakistan green.
   China wants peace on its frontier, but sure hates to have the US sitting there in any form.
   USA wants to derive advantage from both India and Pakistan, and wants a share in Kashmir for its own geo-strategic requirements.
   
   
3. The coming talks are not because India is sincere in solving the issue, or, because Pakistan has been "willing to talk anywhere any time" with India, to discuss and solve the "core issue of Kashmir". It is because the US has been active behind the scenes and has forced both India and Pakistan to meet and talk.
   
   The main US interest in this region is to contain China and towards this end, has engineered the forthcoming talks. Be that as it may, the Pakistani negotiators should keep the interests of the country and the Kashmiri people in view while talking to India.
   Habib Siddiqui
   Karachi
   
   
4. I feel very uncomfortable with General Musharraf’s acceptance of Vajpayee’s invitation. However, since the General has shown his desire to visit New Delhi, Islamabad must take into account the sacrifices of the Kashmiris, the Pakistan armed forces the Pakistani people including the daring Mujahideen groups.
   
   The geo-strategic picture in and around South Asia has become volatile and extremely unpredictable. New alliances and the strategic partnership between the only super power, USA, its NATO allies and the likes of Israel, India, Russia and Iran including the former Central Asian States indicates that the US would like to buy more time for India through these meaningless parleys between Musharraf and Vajpayee.
   
   In order to be proven diplomatically and politically correct, Musharraf should use his own judgement based on the ground realities of the brutal and inhuman atrocities that had been committed by the Indian occupational forces in Kashmir and its non-compliance with the UNSC resolutions.
   UMAR KHAN DAWAR
   Canada
   
   
5. The core issue is "Jammu and Kashmir" and lasting peace can be achieved once this issue is resolved.
   
   The issues which our Indian participants are mentioning are less important. If "Jammu and Kashmir" were not the main issue then Pakistani's would like to know the absence of "Madhuri Dixit" from Indian commercial movie screen.
   Shahzad Alam
   Frankfurt-Germany
   
   
6. General Musharraf should first ask for a plebiscite in Kashmir as agreed upon in the UN Security Council to enable the people of Kashmir to decide their own future. All other disputed matters should be linked with the settlement of the Kashmir Issue.
   Mohammad Manzar Husain
   Florida-USA
   
   
7. There is a flurry of Op-ed pages in free press of Pakistan suggesting agenda for the meeting between CE Musharraf and Vajpayee. Most ex-officials who write such opinions return to what was said and done in the past, starting with the Simla Agreement or the UN resolutions while forgetting that times have changed and the world has moved on. Most forget that clear choices are between a road to reconciliation or continued confrontation. The new world is dominated by the powerful forces of globalization, economic interdependence and trends in conflict resolution.
   
   Fresh thinking requires for a win-win agenda to get away from contentious issues both parties have failed to resolve over 54 years. Diplomacy is an art of the possible. We can learn from USA-China (1970s) relations and France-Germany relations (after W.W.II). Germany and France stand out as the best example of how economic forces and cooperative security transform hostility into partnership. A peacefully negotiated resolution of a recent spy-plane incident showed that the USA-China working relationship based on economic interdependency instead of the contentious issues paid a handsome dividend. These are two good models worth considering for the talks between two elephants of the subcontinent.
   
   Failure precipitates when fantasy meets reality. Just because Kashmir or other lands are on our wish list doesn't mean that other party is going to capitulate at the negotiating table and hand over what we desire. Anyone who believes in such delusions lives in a fool’s paradise. Right or wrong, both countries have invested heavily in parts of Kashmir they control and political realities dictate that negotiators would be committing suicide if
   they agreed to part with the area under their respective control.
   
   Success results when skills match opportunities. There are plenty of opportunities on both side of the LoC to capitalize on. Reasons to consider include strategic and economic. Uncertainty of outcome of any military confrontation, nuclear or conventional, sustainable defense, grinding poverty, deteriorating social indicators and the need for decent living are
   finding articulate voices among sane elements of both countries.
   
   Based on such considerations I think a win-win agenda for the meeting should
   cover the following elements:
   
   1. Competition: yes, hate: no.
   2. Self-reliance: yes, outside mediation: no.
   3. Excellence: yes, mediocrity: no.
   4. Collective wisdom: yes, dubious UN-type multilateralism: no.
   5. Strength: yes, weaknesses as in inept politics: no.
   6. High road of peace: yes, instigated false Jihad: no
   7. Equilibrium through inner strength (superior knowledge, quality
   scholarship, research, excellence in arts, technological skills, agriculture
   and above all youth with marketable skills needed to generate wealth): yes,
   dogma based politics (sectarian and ethnic cleansing): no.
   
   There is still hope for miracles, yes!
   Kishan Bhatia
   USA
   
   
8. General Musharraf should ask India to keep away from Kashmir and India should hold a plebiscite immediately in the disputed region. Impartial international observers should be invited for the event. The Kashmiris should be given the option to choose between staying with India or becoming an independent nation.
   Bill Butterworth
   London
   
   
9. Kashmir
   Proportional reduction in defence budgets.
   Trade
   Sarfraz Khan
   The Netherlands
   
   
10. Amongst other things, I would like the two Governments to discuss the option of extending "priority" business visas and tourist visas to the Pakistani and Indian nationals based in the AGCC countries.
    
    This region is the only region outside India/Pakistan where the Hindus and Muslims work and live together (in such a large number) and still behave themselves. And definitely there are many instances where casual friendships have developed into deeper bonds.
    
    Till date priority visa policy of both the countries has been India and Pakistan specific.
    Syed Asad Ali
    Oman
    
    
11. The agenda for discussion should be:
    
    a) First priority should be Kashmir, i.e. return of POK (Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir) to India.
    b) Nuclear non-proliferation.
    c) Stopping cross-border terrorism.
    d) Increase in trade.
    e) Violation of the rights of minorities in Pakistan.
    f) Resumption of cricket matches.
    Somraj
    India
    
    
12. To achieve peace and prosperity in the region there is only one option and that is to resolve all conflicts and to drop hostile intensions. When we look at our 50-odd years of history, we find that each and every time we had a war, India was an oppressor and this perspective has been acknowledged by the International media. Each and every time the issue was Kashmir.
    
    In the light of the above mentioned facts we can confidently state that the core issue of Kashmir should be resolved swiftly and justly according to the rulings of the United Nations and India should honour it, not because they are being pressurized by the International Community, but because the situation has changed dramatically as both the nations have nuclear arsenals and their missile programs are underway. Due to these huge defence spendings, the IMF and World Bank are monopolizing both countries. Poverty is at alarming levels. The security spendings of India in Occupied Kashmir can lead them to bankruptcy as was observed during the Kargil scenario. Had the Mujahideen not withdrawn, India would have gone bankrupt as it would have had to make some 70,000 sorties of supplies to its forces like in the Siachen Glacier operations. Therefore we can conclude that in a decade or two, India would have reached the same stage as the USSR had and which broke it into a number of states.
    
    My suggestion to Mr. Atal Behari is that he should take time during his bed-rest at hospital and come up with the right decision for a lasting peace and prosperity for the people on both sides of the border.
    Mohammad Jawad Alam
    Pakistan
    
    
13. The agenda of the Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting must only be free and fare plebiscite on Kashmir. Only then can the Kashmir issue be resolved. The Indian government must accept the verdict of the Kashmiris afterward.
    Liaquat Ali Khan
    India
    
    
14. Here is what I would consider to set a win-win agenda for the planned meeting
    between CE Musharraf and PM Vajpayee.
    
    1. Let's not kid ourselves by insisting that unless the Kashmir problem is resolved there can be no progress in improving bilateral relations.
    
    2. Let's accept that the average Reshma and Rahim on both sides of the LoC are poor and more concerned about 'Roti, Kapada, Aur Makan' than forcing their religious beliefs on others.
    
    3. Let's accept the fact that even after fourteen centuries of trying, five of every six persons in the world follow beliefs other than Islam of any sect.
    
    4. Let's accept realities and work on an agenda that emphasizes on building a complex
    economic interrelationship to generate wealth using knowledge workers with marketable skills.
    
    5. Let's work to build bridges to defuse hate and enhance opportunities so that cheaper goods available across the LoC reach consumers through the shortest route instead of being routed through the Middle-East or Singapore as is currently being done using parallel economy.
    
    6. Let's foster good neighborly relations by sharing natural resources at international prices to minimize hardships across the LoC.
    
    7. Let's remove restrictions on the flow of visitors across the LoC so that favorable conditions to build trust at a personal level between the average Reshma and Rahim on both sides could be established.
    
    8. Let's get used to earning instead of demanding respect for each other’s beliefs.
    
    9. Let there be pronouncements of cooperation and a vision for the growth for the poor on both sides of the LoC.
    Kishan Bhatia
    USA
    
    

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