LAKE SUCCESS: General A.G.L. McNau­ghton, (Canada), who as President of the Security Council is conducting … negotiations between India and Pakistan spokesmen over Kashmir, gave an indication today [Dec 20] that the talks may end before Christmas. Asked … whether he thought that there was a possibility of his arriving at a conclusion before the holiday season, he replied: “Five days is a long time.” General McNaughton said that both he and his staff were continuing the discussions. He declined to say, however, whom he had seen or what progress had been made in the talks… .

“I am sorry they are private discussions,” he said. “We are going through a process of gathering information. Both I and my staff are working very intensively at it and we have seen a number of people.

“Later today I intend to continue this process by talking to members of the Kashmir Commission to get their views on the matter.” General McNaughton is scheduled to hand over the presidency of the Security Council at the end of December. He declined to discuss reports that he might carry on with the Kashmir talks into January even though his term of office would be ended by then.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2024