NEW DELHI: Britain has offered to send observers to Jammu and Kashmir for any elections that may be held in the Site as part of the revival of the political process there.

The British foreign secretary, Douglas Hurd. told a crowded news conference here last week that other Common-wealth countries would also be willing to send observers to monitor elections in the troubled State.

He was speaking after meetings with India’s Ministers for Home, External Affairs and Finance as well as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. On Jan. 7. Hurd is to meet the Prime Minister. P.V. Narasimha Rao before Ieaving for Islamabad on the third Ieg of his one-week four of South Asia

Hurd’s offer of Brush and Commonwealth observers for the Kashmir elections assumes significance in view of an earlier British proposal that observers should be allowed in any elections in the troubled northern State. The proposal, the first by any country, was made during consultations between the Ministry of External Affairs and the British foreign office recently.

The Foreign Secretary, who faced a barrage of questions on Kashmir, declined to rule out the ‘third option of independence for Kashmir as part of any final settlement of the problem.

However, he said that any solution reached had to be through discussions among the parties involved. He outlined three steps for an end to the current turmoil in Kashmir. An end to external support for terrorism, revival of the political process and bilateral talks between India and Pakistan under the Shimla agreement. However, be reiterated the British stand that it was not for his country to mediate or to suggest a solution to the Kashmir tangle.

When Hurd’s attention was drawn to the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto’s recent references to the possibility of another war between India and Pakistan, he said that such references were at variance with the impression conveyed by Ms. further comment on the

Bhutto to British leader discussions between the in London recently. He, however declined further comment on the  mater saying “I have not studied.”

Hurd, who is to meet Ms. Bhutto and other Pakistani leaders. On jan. 15. Understandably, sought achieve a balance between external support to terrorism in Kashmir and the need to protect human rights.

“External support to terrorism leads nowhere and brings only misery,” he said, adding: “Human rights arc important Hurd conveyed to various ministers during his meetings that Britain favored the indefinite extension of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) at the review conference coming up later this year.

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 13, 1995