ISLAMABAD, May 31: President Pervez Musharraf and Indian opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani on Tuesday discussed the opening of people-to-people links between Pakistan’s Northern Areas and Kargil in occupied Kashmir. A statement issued to the media by Indian officials after a press conference by Mr Advani quoted President Musharraf as telling the Bharatiya Janata Party leader that “the people in Northern Areas were demanding the opening of a bus route between Northern Areas and Kargil”.

Briefing newsmen on his meeting with President Musharraf, the leader of the opposition in the Indian Lok Sabha said that peace was the only option between India and Pakistan and the peace process should be taken to its logical end. Mr Advani described as ‘extremely satisfying’ his meetings with President Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. He stopped short of saying that the meeting with President Musharraf was a ‘milestone’ and confined himself to terming it important, contrary to the suggestion of his press secretary.

The veteran Indian politician said it was agreed during the meeting that the peace process should be made irreversible. During his meeting with President Musharraf, Mr Advani was accompanied by his wife Kamala and daughter Pratibha, Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Menon, Mr Advani’s private secretary Deepak Chopra and BJP Secretary Sudheendra Kulkarni.

Widely regarded as a hawk who caused the collapse of the July 2001 Agra summit between then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President Musharraf, the former Indian deputy prime minister said: “Both of us felt optimistic that a solution would be found to all problems.” Mr Advani said President Musharraf told him that the peace process had now been taken over by people of the two countries. He said he also discussed “the next phase in the peace process” with President Musharraf.

He said President Musharraf told him that he had developed a good understanding with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “The objective is clear, but the end solution is still not clear to us. A lot of preparatory work with a focused approach is needed,” Mr Advani quoted President Musharraf as saying.

Mr Advani said he told President Musharraf that the real breakthrough in India-Pakistan relations came after the joint statement issued in Islamabad in January 2004. He said he complimented President Musharraf for taking a bold peace initiative and told him: “What made the joint statement truly historic was the commitment you made on terrorism. It needed a lot of courage to state what was stated in the joint statement. I compliment you for your courage and for taking this risk.”

In response to a question, Mr Advani said BJP’s manifesto was not targeted against Pakistan, rather it had some strong statements against terrorism. He said Pakistan was a partner in the global war against terrorism.

Replying to a question about cross-border infiltration, Mr Advani said it was an issue on which the Indian government could comment. In reply to another question, he said that peace was in the best interest of Pakistan and India. “We can change our history but not our geography,” he remarked.

The BJP chief said that President Musharraf agreed that the process of dialogue on all issues should continue in an atmosphere of mutual trust and free of violence. The two leaders also talked about the scheduled visit of representatives of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to Pakistan later this week.

Mr Advani said his comment on the Hurriyat issue was that those who were seeking to sort out the Jammu and Kashmir issue must recognize the diversity of views and work out a solution acceptable to all parties.

“Jammu and Kashmir is very diverse and any eventual solution to the issue will have to be acceptable to all the diverse communities in the state and all sections of opinion within Kashmir,” he added. Mr Advani said he told President Musharraf that we could no longer say “let us give peace an option. The truth is that peace is the only option.”

All people in India, ruling as well as opposition parties, he said, were unanimous on the issue of peace with Pakistan. He said he had brought up the issue of what he called harassment and arrests of Indian fishermen by Pakistani authorities. He said President Musharraf asked officials to look into the matter and ensure that boats confiscated from Indian fishermen were returned.

While referring to his visit to Karachi, the BJP leader said it would be a nostalgic trip to his birthplace and thanked the Pakistan government for inviting him. Replying to a question, Mr Advani said an impression of his being a hawk was wrong, adding that his public image and persona were different.

Replying to a question about demolition of the Babri mosque, he said it was one of the saddest days of his life.

MEETING WITH AZIZ: Talking to reporters after meeting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the Prime Minister’s House, Mr Advani said people of South Asia were eager to see a lasting peace in the region which was not possible without the resolution of the Kashmir issue.