Pakistan Proposes Kashmir Deal With India

Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to all of Kashmir if India agrees that the disputed Himalayan region should become self-governing and largely autonomous, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Tuesday, according to an Indian television report.

Musharraf said in an interview that Pakistan would agree to predominantly Muslim Kashmir becoming an autonomous region, still technically divided between the two countries but with a porous border, and loosely administered by both nations, Independent New Delhi Television reported.

Asked if Pakistan would withdraw from its part of Kashmir if India grants full autonomy to its own part, Musharraf said "We will have to if this solution comes up."

Both India and Pakistan now claim all of the region.

There was no immediate Indian reaction to Musharraf's comments, which were similar to proposals he has floated in earlier interviews and in his recently released autobiography, "In the Line of Fire."

Musharraf's reported comments came weeks after India and Pakistan renewed their peace process, which had been temporarily derailed by Indian accusations of Pakistani involvement in the July 11 Mumbai train bombings that killed more than 200 people.

Two of India and Pakistan's three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 have been fought over Kashmir. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting an Islamic insurgency in India's two-thirds of the region which has killed 68,000 people since it erupted in 1989. Pakistan says it only gives the rebels diplomatic and moral support.

India and Pakistan began a peace process in 2004 that has seen tensions between the countries ease considerably.

Although there has been scant public progress in settling the Kashmir dispute, officials on both sides privately say advances have been made in back channel negotiations, largely between retired officials on both sides.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, have said the main features of a Kashmir deal would be on opening for travel and trade of the heavily fortified frontier between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. There would also be a staggered withdrawal of troops from each side of the region.

Accepting such a plan would be a major departure for both Pakistan and India.

Islamabad has previously insisted a referendum be held in all of Kashmir to determine whether the region should be part of India or Pakistan.

New Delhi, meanwhile, says Kashmir is an integral part of India and has resisted moves to redraw its borders.

In Tuesday's interview, Musharraf said Pakistan would give up its demand for a plebiscite if India agreed to more autonomy for its part of Kashmir.

"Inherently, both sides have to give up their positions ... and step back," he said. "If one of us is not prepared to step back, we will not reach a solution."

India External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Islamabad for talks on Jan. 13, and India's prime minister is expected to visit Pakistan sometime early next year.