Can't redraw border but can make it irrelevant: Rao

NEW DELHI: India is resurrecting PM Manmohan Singh’s vision for a Kashmir solution — no redrawing of boundaries but making them “irrelevant” by encouraging cross-LoC trade and movement of people. This was part of the peace process during the Musharraf years between 2004-2008, which stopped abruptly after the Mumbai attacks.

For the first time, India put a stamp of approval on the “complex negotiations and unsung efforts” on a Kashmir “solution” that was the subject of deep discussions in the “back channel” for three years until Pervez Musharraf’s troubles overwhelmed him in 2007. On Sunday, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said, “We have to reaffirm the progress made through complex negotiations and dialogue through patient and unsung effort whether in the composite dialogue or back-channel diplomacy, during this period. We must seek creative solutions.”

In a significant speech before the next round of talks with Pakistan in July, Rao addressed the J& K issue as well as Pakistan’s major issues with India. Rao told delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India at a thinktank here that India wanted to “build” on the “progress made based on the common understanding that boundaries could not be redrawn but we could work towards making them irrelevant; and people on both sides of the LoC should be able to move freely and trade with one another”.

The four-year-old peace process saw a “number of cross-LoC CBMs put in place, which included the opening of five crossing points on the LoC; introduction of triple-entry permits; increase in frequency of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot bus services; starting of cross-LoC trade on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot routes”, she said. India’s veiled approval of the back-channel diplomacy as well as the achievements of the Musharraf years is significant as Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani has openly declared his opposition to both the back channel and the J&K peace process.

According to reports, the back channel struggled for three years, with meetings in third country capitals to thrash out the contours of a Kashmir solution. It is premised on exactly the “irrelevant boundaries” that Rao resurrected on Sunday. Drafts of the deal apparently included free movement and trade between Kashmiris on either side of the LoC, greater autonomy on both sides of the LoC, and a subsequent withdrawal of troops. A “joint mechanism” was also envisaged which would have Kashmiris, Indians and Pakistanis discussing issues like water rights, which would be important in light of the recent water agitation in Pakistan.

Flaying Pakistan’s “water” propaganda, Rao said, “The myth of water theft does not stand the test of rational scrutiny or reason. India has never sought to deny Pakistan its fair share of the Indus waters.” But in a sign that New Delhi wants to be “reasonable” and “forward looking”, India offered to set up another bilateral mechanism to share “best practices” in water utilisation and irrigation. It might give Pakistan a face-saver on the water issue.