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Musharraf Pushes Shared Kashmir Sovereignty Proposal


Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says Pakistan will give up its claim to Kashmir if India agrees to give the disputed territory autonomy under the joint supervision of both countries.

In an interview with New Delhi Television, General Musharraf outlined the proposal which is similar to proposals he has floated in earlier interviews and in his recent autobiography, In the Line of Fire.

The general said he would not give up the claim to Kashmir unless New Delhi does the same.

India has not directly responded to the proposal. Both countries now claim all of the region.

A peace process was initiated in 2004. High level negotiations are expected to resume in January.

Under General Musharaf's plan, Pakistan would give up any claim to the mainly Hindu Jammu region and the largely Buddhist region of Ladakh, if India renounced its claim to the overwhelmingly Muslim areas of Gilgit and Baltistan currently ruled by Pakistan. That would leave a majority Muslim region centered in the Kashmir Valley with a porous border, and loosely administered by both nations.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars since independence over Kashmir.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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