ISLAMABAD: India wants to resume talks with Pakistan on Kashmir from where former president Pervez Musharraf left and to carry forward almost “80 percent progress” made then towards the settlement of core issue, a source told Pakistan Today on Sunday.
“Pakistan and India were able to resolve ’80 percent’ of the Kashmir dispute during the year-long talks between the Musharraf regime and the Indian government, mostly through back channel diplomacy,” said a senior Pakistani official desiring not to be named.
He said the two sides were almost close to clinching a deal on the core issue while agreeing on the “joint management” of Kashmir having soft borders and other related matters before Musharraf came across the judicial crisis and his grip on power loosened.
“Pakistan’s new civilian rulers as well as the military establishment believe that the talks with India shall restart from scratch on the Kashmir dispute, whereas New Delhi wants to pick up the threads from where Musharraf left, something that is unacceptable to Islamabad,” the official said.
He said, “This disagreement on the major conflicting matter between Islamabad and New Delhi is the main stumbling block in the revival of the stalled Indo-Pak composite dialogue.”
Another Pakistani diplomat speaking on conditional of anonymity confirmed Islamabad was unwilling to accept the Indian demand for restoration of talks on Kashmir by moving ahead with the progress already made.
“India’s insistence in this regard is causing delay in the restart of composite dialogue and at present both the nuclear rivals are trying to remove these differences through the back channel diplomacy,” he said.
He said former foreign secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan was representing Pakistan, while former Indian ambassador SK Lambah was leading the talks for India.
The diplomat added that the two sides were also trying to chalk out a schedule and agenda for the vital visit of Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to New Delhi on the invitation of his Indian counterpart, SM Krishna.
