ISLAMABAD (Islam Online)-Pakistan is pinning its hopes on U.S. President Bill Clinton to help solve the explosive Kashmir issue as he starts a landmark trip to South Asia. Clinton – who tacked Pakistan onto his itinerary, after weeks of uncertainty – will stop off in Islamabad after visits to Bangladesh and India.
"Clinton's statements recognizing the gravity of the Kashmir crisis have encouraged us, but he should increase pressure on India. He should strive for a tripartite dialogue involving Pakistani, Indian and Kashmiri leaders, and meet APHC leaders during his tour,” said Ghulam Mohammad Safi, leader and secretary general of the Pakistani Kashmir chapter of APH, which works in both parts of the divided Himalayan state.
More than 25,000 people have died in Indian-controlled Kashmir since the launch of an armed Islamic movement against Indian rule in 1989.
Clinton's description of Kashmir as "the most dangerous place in the world today" has raised hopes the United States may seek to push for a resolution of the issue. Clinton has offered to broker a solution to the dispute, provided India and Pakistan both agree to mediation. While Pakistan he is keen to internationalize the dispute, India is adamantly opposed to any third-party interference.
Newly nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the disputed Himalayan region since 1947, and came close to another full-blown conflict during fierce fighting last year.
"We earnestly hope President Clinton will launch a tangible initiative on Kashmir as he has recognized that peace hinges on a solution in Kashmir," said Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, head of the government in Pakistani Kashmir.
Chaudhry said a European parliament resolution passed last Thursday, which called for India, and Pakistan to consider U.N. mediation to end their standoff represented a "diplomatic and moral victory for Kashmiris."
Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, in a statement from London released by her party here, urged Clinton to focus on Kashmir. Clinton "can use quiet diplomacy effectively to get peace moving. His visit offers hope to tens of thousands of Kashmiris living in the shadows of Indian control. Having averted a potentially nuclear conflict last May, he knows first-hand the importance of the unresolved Kashmir dispute," said Bhutto.
Clinton last year helped defuse the Kargil conflict when then Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif withdrew Islamic fighters from occupied peaks in Indian Kashmir after a Washington meeting with the U.S. leader.
Since Sharif's ouster in a coup in October, tensions between India and military-ruled Pakistan have escalated again, with sporadic clashes and almost daily exchanges of fire along the Line-of-Control, the de facto border in divided Kashmir.
Pakistani military leader, General Pervez Musharraf has said any dialogue with India must focus on Kashmir, as all other issues were "mere irritants." "We are looking towards the U.S. president to play a role which promises peace and security," Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Maleeha Lodhi, said ahead of Clinton's trip.
Representatives of the All Party Hurriet [Freedom] Conference [APHC], a multi-group Kashmiri organization spearheading a long-running Islamist campaign in Indian Kashmir, also underscored a U.S. role.
