SRINAGAR, Feb 3 (2000): Muslim separatist parties in Kashmir said Thursday they hoped US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in March would push forward a resolution of the violent dispute over the Himalayan state’s status.
Moulvi Umar Farooq, chairman of the Freedom Conference representing two dozen Kashmiri political groups wanting independence from India, said he “whole-heartedly” welcomed the announcement of Clinton’s visit, beginning February 20.
“The United States is more than interested in the resoulution of the Kashmir issue for the bright future of the subcontinent,” said Farooq.
He claimed Clinton was carrying a proposal on resolving the Kashmir dispute for New Delhi’s scrutiny.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is the principal source of tensions between newly nuclearised Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan territory.
Pakistan provides moral and diplomatic support for the 10-year- old Muslim separatist insurgency in Indian Kashmir, which has claimed more than 25,000 lives since 1989.
India accuses its arch-rival of sponsoring cross-border terrorism and providing training and logistical support to the separatists.
“The US is interested in an early resolution to the Kashmir issue to ward off fears of a possible nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan,” said Farooq.
Washington has urged India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir problem, while remaining sensitive to India’s opposition to any third- party interference in the dispute.
Farooq, who is also Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric, said he would visit the US Embassy in New Delhi before March and push for Clinton to visit the troubled state.
Clinton’s visit will be the first to India by a US president since Jimmy Carter in January 1978.
