Kashmir settlement to take time, says Manmohan
Pakistan Times Monitoring Report

JAKARTA (Indonesia): Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday expressed his country’s desire to resolve all outstanding issues with Pakistan in a mutually acceptable manner.

Committing New Delhi to resolving all outstanding disputes with Pakistan at the multilateral forum of Asian-African Summit 2005, the Indian Prime Minister also reciprocated President General Pervez Musharraf’s desire for peace, the Pakistani leader had expressed on Friday. “I appreciate the positive sentiments expressed by President Musharraf on Friday, which I fully reciprocate,” he said.

In his address to the Asian-African Summit, Manmohan Singh said “in cooperation with Pakistan, we have embarked upon a journey towards peace and good neighbourly ties.

“We are sincere in our desire to resolve all issues in a mutually acceptable manner. This will surely bring benefit to our peoples and to our region,” he said at the forum, representing three quarters of world’s humanity including major economic powers China and Japan, oil-rich Gulf countries and fast-expanding ASEAN economies.

Past Rancours

He said “past rancours” can be transcended and new initiatives taken to “create new cooperative mechanisms and regional partnerships.”

“The breathtaking pace of change in our times gives us an opportunity and a responsibility to act decisively,” Singh told the leaders of 106 countries, according to a news report received here.

“We can transcend past rancours and take initiatives to create new cooperative mechanisms and regional partnerships,” Indian Premier said adding that “in this spirit, in cooperation with Pakistan, we have embarked upon a journey towards peace and good neighbourly ties.”

Citing his interaction with President Pervez Musharraf at the dinner hosted by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Friday, the Prime Minister said “I appreciate the positive sentiments expressed” by the Pakistan President which I fully reciprocate.”

Diverse Perspectives

Earlier, taking to reporters accompanying him, Manmohan while maintaining that India and Pakistan needed to look at the Kashmir issue from a “different perspective”, Manmohan Singh said “no overnight solution” could be expected.

“India and Pakistan have to look at Kashmir issue from a different perspective. Territorial disputes are not solved overnight. They take time,” Singh told reporters.

He was asked about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s remark that converting Line of Control (LoC) into a “soft border” was no solution to the Kashmir problem.

“If the peace process is allowed to go forward, it will create a situation for a final settlement,” Singh said, adding “it is a process. There is no time-frame.”●