APHC'S PAKISTAN VISIT HIGHLIGHTS PAKISTAN'S SOFTENED STANCE ON KASHMIR

CONFIDENTIAL,NOFORN C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 000414 SIPDIS SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2016 TAGS: IN, PK, PREL, PTER SUBJECT: APHC'S PAKISTAN VISIT HIGHLIGHTS PAKISTAN'S SOFTENED STANCE ON KASHMIR REF: GRENCIK - AGUILAR EMAIL 22 JAN 07 Classified By: DCM Peter W. Bodde, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 1. (C//NF) Summary. In their visit this week to Pakistan, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and two other moderate Kashmiri leaders of the All Parties Hurriat Conference (APHC) have endorsed President Musharraf's softened stance on Kashmir. The largely supportive reaction by Pakistani opinion leaders signals the public's readiness to accept Musharraf's new approach to Kashmir, but only if India is also seen as making concessions. In their first few days in Pakistan, the APHC leaders have been building a constituency for Musharraf's vision--self governance for Kashmir, demilitarization, softened borders, and joint administration; the APHC delegation has also called for Kashmiris to unite around a workable plan to make proposals reality. Most significantly, they have urged militants and freedom fighters to drop their arms and support the peace process. Although the usual detractors--particularly the now-sidelined militant Kashmiri factions and their rabid supporters in Pakistan's Islamist parties--have portrayed both Musharraf and Mirwaiz as abandoning the Kashmiri call for "self determination," most editorials suggest that what Pakistanis need now is some sign of movement from India that matches Musharraf's overtures. End summary. Pakistan's Kashmir Strategy Paying Dividends... --------------------------------------------- --- 2. (C//NF) The Government of Pakistan (GOP)'s softened strategy on Kashmir over the past year and a half--the result of a painstaking 18-month campaign to reverse the stubborn mindset of Pakistan's foreign policy bureaucracy and building both political and public consensus--appears to finally be paying dividends. It is a process that required Pakistan's bureaucracy and public to re-think its political dogma on Kashmir that the only acceptable resolution is one where India relinquishes its claim on Kashmir and the UN conducts a "plebicite" election to decide Kashmir's future. Since mid-2005, President Musharraf has led (or at times, forced) a new approach to Kashmir, both in diplomatic dialogue and on-the-ground realities. The GOP has curbed its support to Kashmiri militants and thrown its support behind a new Kashmiri spokesperson, cutting off the hard-liners in the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) like Syed Ali Gilani and empowering the more moderate, consensus-seeking leaders--Mirwaiz, Bilal Chani Lone and Abdul Ghani Bhatt--now visiting Pakistan. 3. (C//NF) Pakistan's strategy to lower the militants' profile and promote dialogue over the past year-and-a-half has been carefully designed. Pakistan has adopted new talking points on Kashmir and its centrality to Pakistan; dropped its opposition to the APHC and other Kashmiris engaging in direct talks with New Delhi; urged New Delhi to allow moderate APHC leaders to travel to Pakistan; and thrown out trial balloons to acclimate the Pakistani public to its new strategy. President Musharraf's December 2006 interview with Indian television channel NDTV, in which he reiterated his government's new stance on Kashmir--promoting self governance, demilitarization, softened borders, and theoretical acceptance of the Line of Control (LoC)--reinvigorated the debate among Pakistanis over the plan and its next steps. APHC Visit Highlights A Potential Turning-point... --------------------------------------------- ----- 4. (C//NF) The Jan 17-25 visit to Pakistan of APHC leaders Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and his delegation comes as Pakistanis are increasingly engaged in debating the GOP's new ideas on Kashmir. So far, Mirwaiz's public remarks have been in ISLAMABAD 00000414 002 OF 003 complete harmony with Musharraf's line: not only has he promoted Musharraf's plan, he has directly and dramatically called on militants to drop their arms. During a news conference after meeting Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) political parties, Mirwaiz called on militants to "give up their armed struggle," intoning that it is time for "political forces on both sides of the LoC to shun their differences" and unite. Mirwaiz also extended his group's visit so that he would have time to convene a conference with all of the parties--moderate and militant--in AJK to "evolve a peaceful, united, comprehensive strategy" for Kashmir and have time for a second round of discussions with President Musharraf. 5. (C//NF) Mirwaiz's support of President Musharraf's strategies, including his rejection of the militancy and call for unity, has played well in Pakistani political and journalistic circles. Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain--in a rare comment on the issue--told reporters he backed Mirwaiz's calls, saying that "the time has come for a bold decision, even if it is an unpopular one." Most English-language editorials appeared supportive of the sentiments: "Dawn" suggested that "President Musharraf's plan...offers a plausible starting point" and went on to call Mirwaiz's suggestion for political consensus "an important observation...that should be obtained." ...But India's Moves Will Determine The Outcome --------------------------------------------- -- 6. (C//NF) Even commentators and politicians commonly critical of Musharraf's domestic and foreign policy are willing to give Musharraf leeway on the issue of Kashmir, evidently believing the time for progress is now. An editorial in the English-language Daily, "The Nation" (a paper known for its vehement anti-India editorial stance) described Farooq's call to shut down the militancy a "defeatist attitude" and scorned the GoP, Mirwaiz, and Shujaat for their "optimistic assessment that India is willing to give...a fair deal." This sentiment--and the notion that "there is no...wind of change...blowing in the Indian capital"--underscores the GoP's biggest problem in moving ahead on Kashmir. Pakistani politicians and the general public are not convinced that India is offering concessions on par with those the GOP has put on the table. While supporting Musharraf's movement--particularly turning off the tap for the Kashmiri militancy and abandoning Pakistan's traditional demand for a UN plebicite--even progressive Pakistanis are palpably frustrated that India has not reciprocated on Kashmir or on the issues under discussion in the Composite Dialogue, particularly Siachen and Sir Creek. Detractors Caught Lagging Behind -------------------------------- 7. (C//NF) Militant leaders--such as the now sidelined Syed Ali Gilani and the United Jihad Council--and their supporters in the Jamiat-e Ulema-e Islam Fazlur (JUI-F) and the Jamaat-e Islami (JI) are stuck in a time-warp, parrotting stale slogans that the militancy is the only way for the Kashmiri voice to truly be heard. Several Urdu-language newspapers carried statements by jihadist and Islamist leaders calling Mirwaiz's call to end the militancy "cowardice" and predicting that dialogue "will not change ground realities." They also relied on the old standby--demanding implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Kashmir as the only true resolution acceptable to Pakistan--to blow down the positive sentiment stirred up by Mirwaiz Omar Farooq's visit. Predictably, none suggested a positive approach for resolving the impasse between India and Pakistan, despite the prevailing public sentiment that this is what the majority of Pakistanis want. ISLAMABAD 00000414 003 OF 003 Comment ------ 8. (C//NF) Mirwaiz's visit comes at the perfect time for the GOP, injecting positive energy into the national discussion on Kashmir. As Musharraf and Kasuri have told their Indian and U.S. interlocutors, Pakistan's leaders cannot sustain favorable public sentiment without greater flexibility from India; without a resolution of one of the key substantive bilateral issues now on the table, the APHC visit and all of the positive movement of the past 18 months may amount to little more than another round of talks. CROCKER