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Pakistan keenly watching J&K polls

Pakistan is keeping a close watch on the run-up to the Jammu & Kashmir assembly election, with President Pervez Musharraf holding talks with Pakistan's Kashmir Committee chairman, Abdul Qayyum, on the developments in the valley.

The talks on Friday came after separatist leader Shabir Shah's visit to New Delhi and the stand taken by the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference to hold "unconditional" talks with India's Kashmir Committee, headed by former law minister Ram Jethmalani.

Musharraf has backed the Hurriyat's stand to boycott the J&K polls, said Qayyum, a former president and prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

After a telephonic conversation with Shah on Saturday, Qayyum said the Democratic Freedom Party leader was disappointed at the Indian government's reluctance to initiate talks with Kashmiri leaders.

Qayyum said the Indian government should postpone the election and find a negotiated settlement to the Kashmir issue, adding that the Pakistan Kashmir Committee would send a senior member, Ajmal Khatak, to meet its Indian counterpart and other Indian leaders.

When told that his repeated claims of sending a delegation to India had not materialised, he said this time he "really" wants to send Khatak, provided the Indian government grants him a visa.

Commenting on the composition of the Indian Kashmir Committee, he said it was good that the committee remained unofficial, as it was not constrained by constitutional limitations.

Qayyum met Lisa Curtis, the senior adviser to Christina Rocca, the United States assistant secretary of state, and later told reporters that he had requested her to step up efforts to bring about a Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting in the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session next month.

Musharraf is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 12 while Vajpayee is expected to address the world body on Sept 13.

PTI

Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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