No role of terrorism in Kashmir: Mush

HARD TALK: Believers of militancy cannot be taken on board on Kashmir, said Musharraf.

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New Delhi: General Pervez Musharraf took people by surprise on Friday with an apparent turn around of his position on terrorism in Kashmir.

In a strong message to terrorists, he said, those who believe in violence cannot be taken on board in the India Pakistan peace process.

While speaking in a press conference in Rawalpindi on Friday, Musharraf said the nation would be taken into confidence when the two countries reached a solution to the Kashmir imbroglio.

On the issue of India-Pakistan dialogue on dispute resolution, Musharraf said, "I think the CBMs (confidence building measures) are going on very well and I think our relations have never been this good before ever in our history and we ought to be happy about that. We are happy."

Making it clear that those who believed that the gun was the only solution to the Kashmir issue cannot be taken on board in resolving it, he said, "They will create all obstacles and we have to be steadfast against all that they do."

Musharraf, who last week met Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, wanted to know who should represent the opinion of Kashmiris.

"We have to identify who are the Kashmiris. We obviously think it is All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which is Kashmiri. Is everyone agreeing that the AHPC is the sole voice of Kashmir," he asked.

Musharraf did not appear to be unduly perturbed over the recent suicide bomb attack on January 26 on a prominent hotel in Islamabad, hours before the Indian Republic Day reception was scheduled to be held there.

On the status of investigations related to the blast, he said "there is no breakthrough in the investigations".

Two persons including the suicide bomber were killed in the blast.

Discarding that the blast has created any problem in Indo-Pak relations, he said, "Our relations have never been this good before in our history, and we ought to be happy about that".