Talks Not Likely to Gain Pakistan Any Territory
Re “Breaking the Kashmir Impasse,” Commentary, Nov. 22: President Pervez Musharraf’s proposals on the Kashmir dispute coming at a casual talk with Pakistani journalists at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner party were clearly aimed at resetting expectations internally.
Pakistanis have long been brought up on a steady diet of the Urdu slogan “Kashmir banega Pakistan,” which translates to “Kashmir will become Pakistan.”
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear that India will never make any territorial concessions.
For an elected Indian leader to do so would require a constitutional amendment and parliamentary support, neither of which will likely materialize any time soon.
What Musharraf has been publicly asking for, therefore, is to get something from India on the negotiating table that Pakistan was unable to do using military force.
A real act of bravery by Musharraf would be to tell his countrymen that no solution to Kashmir through talks would likely yield Pakistan any territory from India and therefore the Pakistanis should focus on alleviating the concerns of the Kashmiri people.
Kaushik Kapisthalam
Atlanta
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