INDIA/PAKISTAN: Kashmiri pro-independence leader, Mr Yasin Malik, called on India and Pakistan to show "courage, vision and restraint" to avoid a war and resolve the Kashmir issue, which he described as the main obstacle to peace in South Asia.
Mr Malik, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, also denounced the "war euphoria" which has seen the nuclear-capable rivals massing troops on their borders.
"We hope \Indian Prime Minister\ Vajpayee and \Pakistani President\ Musharraf will show courage, vision and restraint so that there is no war," he said.
"Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris must get engaged in a genuine dialogue to solve the Kashmir issue which is the only stumbling block for peace in South Asia."
Mr Malik welcomed the measures taken by Pakistan so far against extremist groups, but stressed that cracking down on Pakistan-based militants would not affect the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.
"Whatever Pakistan does, the Kashmiri movement will remain an indigenous movement. It will not affect it in any way." An armed insurgency in Kashmir - the country's only Muslim-majority state - has claimed at least 35,000 lives since 1989.
Pakistan demands that India seek a political resolution to the conflict, while New Delhi insists the real problem lies in Islamabad's support of Islamic militants waging a "proxy war". But Mr Malik argued that India had to see beyond the "terrorist" tag.
"India knows that until they resolve the Kashmir issue they cannot bring peace. They must be reasonable and have a pragmatic approach." Mr Malik also said if there were some "positive developments" in the near future, Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Party Hurriyat Conference, would appeal to groups to implement a ceasefire. - (AFP)