NEW DELHI, Aug 23: India on Wednesday rejected the idea of joint management or joint control of divided Kashmir with Pakistan, saying a similar suggestion recently reiterated by President Gen Pervez Musharraf would impinge on India’s sovereignty over the disputed region.

Junior Foreign Minister E. Ahamed also told the Lok Sabha that New Delhi’s approach generally was to resolve the Kashmir issue with Pakistan in the spirit of the Shimla Agreement. At the same time, bilateral talks to boost confidence-building measures between the two would continue.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil made a separate statement in the Rajya Sabha, where he rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party’s demand to take a tougher stance with Pakistan over the recent spurt in terrorist attacks in India.

According to PTI, Mr Ahamed said concepts such as joint control or joint management of Jammu and Kashmir, proposed by Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf, could not be the basis of a settlement of the Kashmir issue because “it is an integral part of India.”

He stressed that “there can be no compromise on the sovereignty of India over the state of Jammu and Kashmir and on India’s unity.” Mr Ahamed also said that “India was committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan bilaterally and peacefully in accordance with the Shimla Agreement”.

In an interview to India’s Frontline magazine on Aug 1, President Gen Musharraf, however, had said the idea of joint management of Kashmir had been first broached by former Indian security adviser J. N. Dixit, which he had adopted.

Mr Ahamed said: “The government intends to continue with the present process of confidence building, cooperation and dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence.”

He said India was disappointed at Islamabad’s “continuing denial of the presence of and failure to take action against terrorist groups threatening to operate against India from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”.

United News of India quoted Home Minister Patil as ruling out any extreme action against Pakistan in the wake of recent spurt in terrorist activities. “As a mature democracy, India would rather try to resolve the tension with the neighbour than escalate it,” Mr Patil said.

India has, however, conveyed to Pakistan in clear terms that good relations with the country were predicated on the stoppage of terrorist acts, Mr Patil said in the Rajya Sabha.

He also said that despite Pakistan’s consistent denial of any hand in terrorist activities in India and promise to check its sources on its land if any, there were no results and no signs of dismantling of terrorist camps operating from there.