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Tariq Aziz headed for India?

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 9. Tariq Aziz, Pakistan's National Security Adviser and trouble-shooter for the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, is reported to be headed for India for discussions in the wake of the "inconclusive" dialogue between the External Affairs Minister, K. Natwar Singh, and his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri.

The pro-establishment Pakistan English daily, Pakistan Observer, in a front-page report, says that Mr. Aziz will hold "important" discussions to decide the "future role" of the dialogue process. The report has neither been confirmed nor denied. Mr. Aziz, along with the then National Security Adviser and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Brajesh Mishra, played a major role in the January 5 pact between Gen. Musharraf and former prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit.

After the change of guard in New Delhi, Mr. Aziz paid a secret visit to Amritsar for an interactive session with his Indian counterpart, J.N. Dixit. Both sides were upset over the leakage of news about the journey.

Speculation

The report about Mr. Aziz's "unscheduled visit" has triggered speculation that the Pakistani establishment is not happy over the "little progress" achieved by Mr. Kasuri, particularly on the Kashmir issue. Indications are that Islamabad would like some "concrete steps" on Kashmir in the near future.

Gen. Musharraf and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, are scheduled to meet in New York in the third/fourth week of September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. In yet another indication that Pakistan is not pleased with the outcome of the latest round of talks in New Delhi, the country's parliamentary committee on Kashmir, in a resolution, urged India to dismantle the fence it has built on the Line of Control. Using a sharp language, it said that if India failed to heed the request, Kashmiris on both sides of the border would "remove the fence."

In a related development, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Masood Khan, said that high-level mechanisms were available to resolve the "complex" Kashmir issue and that focussed efforts were needed for its settlement.

Mr. Khan said that Pakistan made a proposal at the Delhi talks for the appointment of "high representatives" from both sides to deal with Kashmir. However, India turned it down on the ground that existing mechanisms were sufficient to deal with the issue.

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