Delhi Reconciliation

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31576, 13 January 1968, Page 15

Delhi Reconciliation

(N.Z. P.A. -Reuter—Copyright) KARACHI, January 12. India’s recent release of the Kashmiri leader, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah could lead to fresh Indo-Pakistani contacts on the deadlocked 20-year-old issue of Kashmir, according to political observers.

At the same time they urge a cautious approach to speculation that rapid progress towards solving the issue would automatically follow his release.

Sheikh Abdullah, a tireless champion of self-determina-

tion for Kashmir, immediately called for peace and friendship between India and Pakistan after his release on January 2. Four days later he held talks with the Indian Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Yashwantrao Chavan. The Indian Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, said on January 5 that Sheikh Abdullah’s release from detention was “an experiment worth trying.” Answering questions at a press conference, she added that India’s stand on Kashmir was unchanged but that “within that there are lots of possibilities.” Sheikh Abdullah, popularly known as the “lion of Kashmir,” is reported to have expressed a wish to discuss Kashmir with Indian and Pakistani leaders. It is believed that he will soon visit Pakistan. India and Pakistan recently restored telecommunication links severed when they fought over Kashmir in 1965 and exchanges have taken place about the possibility of talks on restoring mutual air services.

But political relations remain hampered by the Kashmir issue which Pakistan maintains must be decided by a plebiscite. The State of Jammu and Kashmir (82,300 square miles), where north-east India meets the north-east area of West Pakistan, has a population of almost four million. It was the scene of bitter fighting after the partition of the Indian sub-continent into Pakistan and India in 1947. The then Maharajah of Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh, a Hindu, acceded to India in October, 1947. Pakistan refused to recognise this and demanded a plebiscite. In August, 1965 war over

Kashmir broke out between India and Pakistan. It ended with a cease-fire a month later. The photograph shows Sheikh Abdullah embracing President Husain of India in Delhi. Sheikh Abdullah had been detained since May, 1965.