Musharraf hails Kashmir talks with India

PAKISTAN: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he was optimistic that a more conciliatory tone in talks with India would bring an end to their 60-year dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

His comments came as thousands of Pakistanis rallied across the country for a "Kashmir Solidarity Day" and condemned alleged atrocities in the Indian-ruled part of the Muslim-majority region.

Musharraf said that nuclear-armed India and Pakistan had changed their stance from "confrontationist ... to reconciliatory resolution".

"We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel where we may be able to resolve the dispute for good, and for the benefit of the people of Kashmir and to give them final peace," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Musharraf as saying before he left to visit Tehran and Ankara.

Musharraf said Solidarity Day - a national holiday here - was different to previous years "as (the) focus has changed towards the resolution of the dispute, and I am happy about it."

Pakistani authorities continued with a full programme of events, including one minute's silence for tens of thousands of people killed in Kashmir during a 17-year Islamist revolt against Indian rule.

More than 3,000 people rallied in the central city of Multan and protests elsewhere denounced Indian "atrocities".

Islamabad, Tuesday, AFP