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Violence in J&K will escalate: Hizb

Pakistan-based militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen on Monday night warned that the breakdown of the Indo-Pak summit in Agra would lead to escalation of violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Hizbul Mujahideen's Pakistan-based leader Syed Salauddin told PTI by telephone from Muzzaffarabad that India had to take the blame squarely for failure of the talks.

"The dialogue broke down due to the intransigent and obdurate behaviour of India," he said.

The failure of the summit would result in more attacks in Kashmir as they had no other alternative but to fight, he said adding India was in no mood to accept Kashmir as a disputed territory.

At the same time, Salahuddin also made a surprise offer. He said, "My group will be ready to give a timeframe for an end to fighting if India offers a timeframe for a troop withdrawal."

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Amanullah Khan described the breakdown of the talks as 'catastrophic' and said it would take a long time for both the leaders to create the same atmosphere again.

Jamaat-e-Islami appreciated the stand taken by Musharraf at the Agra summit.

"President Musharraf and his delegation rightly said there cannot be any thaw in bilateral relations between the two countries unless India considered Kashmir as a disputed territory," Jamaat leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed said.

But Harkat-e-Jehad-e-Islami chief Saeed Awan urged Musharraf to embrace war as the solution to the Kashmir issue.

"Musharraf should follow the teachings of Islam and understand that jehad is the only solution," Awan said.

Residents of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir were, however, disappointed.

"We wanted something good to come out of these talks, but now that they have failed we fear tensions will rise and that could mean war," said Mohammad Akram Zahid, a store owner in Islamabad.

Dr Maqbool Bhatti, a retired Pakistan foreign service official, who has served as Pakistan's ambassador in several countries said the future held a lot of promise as both Musharraf and Vajpayee held several rounds of one to one talks and broke the ice between themselves.

While it is very disappointing that the talks broke down, "the future holds promise," he said.

"The news of the breakdown of talks between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee has been received with extreme disappointment and sadness in Pakistan," he said.

The news of the breakdown coming as it is after sustained reports of progress during the past few days has disappointed many.

Pakistan Television, which earlier gave regular updates on the developments in Agra along with panel discussions for the past three days, on Monday just broadcast repeats of the breakfast meeting between Musharraf and editors of the Indian media for most of the day.

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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