Musharraf rakes up Kashmir issue in China

The Pak President on his five-day state visit to China said not much progress has been made on resolving the conflict in Kashmir.

Raking up the Kashmir issue in China, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said not much progress has been made on "conflict resolution" with India although confidence building measures (CBMs) were going ahead.

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The Pakistani leader also urged for "flexibility" and "courage" by New Delhi, Islamabad and the Kashmiri people to resolve the lingering problem, which spawned terrorism and extremism.

Musharraf, on the third day of his five-day state visit to China, said India and Pakistan were following a dual track of CBMs and "conflict resolution" to address all outstanding issues.

At the same time, while the CBMs were going ahead, there is no desired progress on the front of "conflict resolution", he said while speaking at the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a leading Chinese government think-tank.

In "conflict resolution," Musharraf emphasised the centrality of the Kashmir problem that has been at the heart of Indo-Pak tension and said it led to wars between the two south Asian neighbours.

Everyone will have to move back from their stated positions as sticking to old stances would lead nowhere, he said and referred to his proposals of de-militarisation and self-governance in Kashmir as the way forward to resolve the issue in an acceptable manner for all three parties.