The Rediff Special/ Frank Wisner

'Elections alone will not solve the problems of Kashmir'

Ultimately, there is a limit to what you can do. If India and Pakistan fail to engage, progress on the issues of greatest importance to this state will not endure.

Wherever you turn today -- to Washington, London Moscow, Beijing or Tokyo -- governments around the world have declared themselves for peace between India and Pakistan. The hope is the same: that the governments of each nation will resume bilateral talks, and settle their differences.

All issues between India and Pakistan must be on the table for discussion, including Kashmir. There are a range of issues that complicate the relationship, other than questions directly relevant to the affairs of this state. I think of trade and investment, immigration issues, territorial claims, and national security concerns.

In some instances, progress may be possible in the short term. Other issues will require patient and persistent statesmanship before yielding results. The pre-requisite in all cases is the courage to begin negotiations without prejudging the outcome, bearing in mind all questions need to be tackled.

Within the universe of issues ripe for discussion between India and Pakistan, many flow directly from the conflict in Kashmir. Some of these are complicated and will require time and effort. Others would appear to be ripe for settlement -- and none more than the Siachen Glacier.

I believe India and Pakistan can agree that this patch of frozen earth has no strategic value worth the life of even one more of their sons. I believe that India and Pakistan can agree to end the conflict there, and devise an arrangement that will ensure their armies do not again come to blows.

India and Pakistan have been very close to agreement in the past. If a Siachen agreement is reached now, India and Pakistan will earn praise from the entire world. There will be renewed confidence in negotiations, and even bolder steps will be possible in the future.

The recent election in Pakistan offer another opportunity for both sides to sort out their relationship. The signals sent by newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief to India have encouraged all of us who support a resumption of much-needed bilateral dialogue. Prime Minister Deve Gowda declared his government's intention to engage Pakistan early in its tenure.

The recently announced Gujral Doctrine has demonstrated that India is prepared to accept one of the important responsibilities of leadership in South Asia: that, as the larger, more powerful state in the region, it must take the lead in being attentive to the needs of its neighbours. Peace with should be pursued with dispatch, and in a spirit of accommodation.

I deeply believe that India stands to gain substantially from such an initiative. Peace with Pakistan would free India's hands to pursue a greater role in Asian and world affairs -- and, of course, to attend to its needs at home.

Just as recent elections in Pakistan seem to present an opportunity to break with the patterns of the past, so too Jammu and Kashmir's assembly election last fall offered the prospect for generating positive political momentum. Here, in our judgement, lies the importance of your elections. They offered a springboard to a comprehensive process of political consultation.

Elections alone will not solve the problems of this land, but they offer an opportunity for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to begin to assume control of their lives, and for their leaders to define new arrangements with the Center. From the plains of Jammu, to the Valley of Kashmir, to the mountains of Ladakh, I believe this state is ready to take a historic step forward -- away from the debilitating cycle of violence to an era of peace and prosperity.

Stepping across the divide will not be easy. The political process essential to narrow the differences between opposing sides will require the support of all people of goodwill. It will require bold leadership from the central and state governments, and from all the state's political forces. Violence must end. Terrorism from any quarter must end. It has no place in a civilised world. It must be rooted out.

The violence that has gripped your state for the past eight years has even reached into homes and families far from here. In the state of Washington, in the United States, there is a brave woman who grieves for her missing husband, the victim of a senseless kidnapping not far from here nearly 600 days ago. Two other women in England and a family in Germany grieve as well for their missing husbands and loved ones, victims of the same act of terrorism. There is a family in Norway that mourns the death of their son, murdered ruthlessly.

I speak on behalf of Britain, Germany and Norway, as well as the United States, when I express my gratitude for the work of the police and civil officials in Jammu and Kashmir and in Delhi. I ask the leaders of every political stripe, including those of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, to help us ascertain the whereabouts of the victims of this ghastly crime.

The loss of a loved one is a tragedy that has visited the homes of far too many families in this state during the last eight years. On behalf of the families of the four Western hostages, I ask that anyone who may have information to please come forward.

In the ancient words of the Book of Ecclesiastics, for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to rend and a time to sew. A time to hate and a time to love. A time for war and a time for peace.

I join all Americans in the hope that your time has come, that the long winter of Kashmir's suffering soon will end, and that the spring which follows will be a season of reconciliation and peace.

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