President Pervez Musharraf has asked India to suggest 'new ideas' to resolve the Kashmir issue if it rejects his proposals of self-governance and demilitarisation, failing which Pakistan will ask the international community to help resolve it.
"If they reject (his proposals), they should give new ideas. If they do not give ideas, we will approach the international community," he told reporters in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir on Sunday.
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"We are at present going through the bilateral route (to resolve Kashmir issue) but if it fails we will take the multilateral route," he said, adding that Pakistan will approach the international community to resolve the issue or else there would not be peace in Kashmir.
Musharraf and his government ratcheted up the Kashmir issue by organising special meetings and rallies all over Pakistan on Sunday to mark Kashmir Day, which Pakistan observes every year to highlight its stance on the issue.
The effort of his government appeared to be to outwit the hardline Jamat-e-Islami, which has launched a countrywide campaign accusing Musharraf of compromising with Pakistan's position on Kashmir. But in the course of a public address in Muzaffarabad on Sunday, Musharraf rejected as 'rumour-mongering' such assumptions.
"Kashmir runs in my blood and I promise you and will make efforts to find a durable solution (to it)," he said, reaffirming his assurance to find a resolution to the dispute that is acceptable to the Kashmiri people.
