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Kofi Annan Visit To Push India-Pakistan Dialogue On Kashmir
NEW DELHI, March 14 (News Agencies) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to arrive in India on Thursday for a three-day visit aimed at promoting a resumption of the stalled India-Pakistan dialogue over Kashmir.
India is the last leg of the South Asian tour that has taken the U.N. chief to Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
While Annan is expected to avoid delving too deeply into India and Pakistan's long-running territorial dispute over Kashmir, he will stress the need for a revival of the bilateral talks frozen since the Kagil border conflict in Kashmir in 1999.
A 1948 U.N. resolution envisages a self-determination referendum in Kashmir, but India has refused to allow a vote, insisting that Kashmir is an integral part of its territory.
Annan's clarification in Islamabad that the resolution could not be imposed on either country was taken in India as a de facto endorsement of New Delhi's stance on Kashmir, which also rules out any third-party interference.
"A visit by a U.N. secretary general is always a very important one, although I don't see any burning issues which bring him here," said former foreign secretary Salman Haider.
"He will certainly say India and Pakistan should start talking again. It was a clearly a very considered line which he took in Islamabad," Haider said.
Muslim majority Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947 but remains claimed by both. The current conflict has claimed more than 34,000 lives since 1989.
Analysts said India would be expecting a pat on the back for taking the unilateral initiative of suspending counter-insurgency operations against Kashmiri groups back in November.
Pakistan responded by withdrawing troops from the tense border and calling for a three-way dialogue including Kashmiri leaders, but New Delhi has refused to hold direct talks until Pakistan stops backing "cross-border terrorism" - a charge Islamabad denies.
Kashmir's main political alliance - the All Party Hurriyat Conference - has sent a senior representative to New Delhi in the hope of securing a meeting with Annan.
It will be Annan's second visit to India and he is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and Defense Minister George Fernandes, as well as calling on President K.R. Narayanan.
The visit has a significant business component, with Annan due to address India's main industry lobbies in Delhi and the southern city of Hyderabad.
The issue of Afghanistan, particularly the recent destruction of ancient Buddha statues by the ruling Taliban regime, will also figure prominently during Annan's talks with Indian leaders.
India, which does not recognize the current regime in Kabul, was one of the five countries to sponsor the U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on the Taliban in November 2000.
"We have a direct interest in the restoration of peace in Afghanistan," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Other issues to be discussed will be the future of U.N. peacekeeping missions - to which India has been a major contributor - and efforts to combat what is labeled as "international terrorism".
India is also certain to reiterate its demand that it be made a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
"We will stress that we are ready to assume the responsibility of a permanent member," the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Annan will fly to New York from Hyderabad on Saturday.
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