Kashmir Issue: Whenever there is talk of India and Pakistan, two issues always come to the fore. First is Kashmir and second is the issue of terrorism. At present, the talks between the two countries are completely closed and it has been made clear from the Indian side that it is not possible without curbing terrorism. Amidst all this, it is being discussed that a time had come when the solution to the Kashmir issue was in the hands of both the governments.
The Agra summit held in the year 2001 is definitely discussed for the solution of this issue. At that time Pervez Musharraf was the surveyor of Pakistan. However, now he has passed away and at the time of his death the discussion on this issue has again become common. Nearly two years after the Kargil war, when Pervez Musharraf came to India in 2001, the wounds of the Kargil war were still fresh, but it was expected that the bitterness might have subsided. In history, the Agra summit is remembered in such a way that it was a big opportunity when things kept happening.
Musharraf had kept a 4-point solution
Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has written in his book ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove’ that the solution of Kashmir was in the hands of both the governments and they wanted to solve it. Then the question is also why there was no solution. In this conversation, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf had proposed a four-point solution.
The first of the four principles of Musharraf’s plan-
Lakhs of soldiers are stationed in Kashmir on both sides of the LoC. According to Musharraf’s proposal, both India and Pakistan would have to withdraw their troops for a lasting peace. Will it be a phased withdrawal or something else both sides need to consider.
Second-
There will be no change in the boundaries of Kashmir. However, people of Jammu and Kashmir will be allowed to move freely across the LoC. The point to be noted here is that if Musharraf’s plan was accepted by India, then India would have to accept Pakistan’s sovereignty over Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (which Pakistan shows as its Azad Kashmir province) and in return Pakistan would have to surrender to India. Accepts Indian suzerainty over the part of Jammu and Kashmir.
third-
Pakistan has long advocated ‘self-determination of Kashmiris’ but Musharraf was willing to give it up in favor of greater autonomy. This proposal also meant that Article 370 would remain in Jammu and Kashmir forever and the BJP, which had been talking about abolishing it from the beginning, would have to leave this issue.
Fourth-
A Joint Supervision Mechanism in Jammu and Kashmir involving India, Pakistan and Kashmir. Musharraf’s emphasis was on involving the local Kashmiri leadership in this. Years after the failure of the summit, Musharraf claimed that the Indian side had reneged on the agreement while the draft resolution was ready for signature. Musharraf said in a program in the year 2004 that I was told that the Indian cabinet had refused to give its approval on this.
So that’s why the matter got stuck?
In the year 2006, 5 years after the summit, General Pervez Musharraf wrote his autobiography ‘In the Line of Fire’, referring to this issue, he wrote, ‘Met Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee at around 11 pm. The atmosphere was serious. I told him in two words that it seems that there is someone who is above both of us and in front of whom neither of us could walk. Both of us are embarrassed by this.
Advani has written in ‘My Country My Life’ that the General had not taken my name but the gesture was towards me. Atal Bihari Vajpayee described Musharraf’s statement as a complete lie and said that his obstinate attitude, trying to prove terrorism in Kashmir as a war of independence, proved to be important in failing the Agra Agreement.
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