Pakistan Gets Letter on Talks With India

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday formally invited Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, for talks on ending five decades of tension over Kashmir, a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.

Musharraf is ready to talk without conditions even though he believes that the Kashmiri people should be included in negotiations, his chief spokesman said.

Vajpayee’s letter came two days after India’s defense minister announced the invitation while declaring an end to a six-month cease-fire in the disputed Himalayan region--and a day after Pakistan’s foreign minister accepted the invitation while denouncing India for ending the cease-fire.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged receipt of Vajpayee’s letter and said Musharraf “will send a reply shortly.”

Musharraf spokesman Gen. Rashid Quereshi voiced skepticism about India’s commitment to peace but said the latest invitation was a good sign.

“If the government of India is sincere, this is a welcome step,” he said.

The rival nations, which conducted nuclear tests in 1998, have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

“Our common enemy is poverty. For the welfare of our peoples, there is no other recourse but a pursuit of the path of reconciliation, of engaging in productive dialogue and by building trust and confidence. I invite you to walk this high road with us,” Vajpayee’s letter read.

The letter invited Musharraf and his wife to visit India at their “early convenience.” It wasn’t immediately known when that might be. Nor was it clear whether representatives of Islamic militant groups fighting Indian forces would attend the talks. Several of those groups have rejected the Indian invitation and urged Musharraf not to go.