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Pakistan hopes peace process will continue

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MAY 13. Pakistan today said it expected the new government in India to take forward the peace initiative and work towards a resolution of all outstanding issues between the two countries, including Jammu and Kashmir.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, said that Islamabad looked forward to working with the new set-up in New Delhi in its quest to further the peace process for the benefit of the peoples of India and Pakistan.

Notwithstanding the immediate gesture of extending a hand of friendship to the new government, Pakistan has reasons to be concerned about the unexpected departure of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, from the helm of affairs. Like many others, the outcome of the elections has caught Pakistan by surprise.

The perception in official circles here is that the Italian-born Congress leader, Sonia Gandhi, would find it difficult to move away from the stated position on the `core' issue of Kashmir. The establishment here believes that the enthusiasm of the Congress towards peace is largely confined to confidence-building measures for improvement of ties rather than the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. Within the civil society, Verdict 2004 has evoked a mixed reaction. While there is a sense of joy over the defeat of `Hindu nationalist forces,' there are worries that without Mr. Vajpayee at the head of the Government, the peace process initiated by him would slow down.

Analysts made repeated references to Gujarat and the growing perception of India moving to the right under the BJP. ``The election results clearly indicate that the Indian electorate has moved away from Hindutva extremism evident in the rise of the BJP and its allies in the last few years,'' said Pakistan ex-envoy, Maqbool Bhatti.

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