Musharraf says peace process will continue

Violence continued in Kashmir throughout the summit

NEW DELHI, India -- Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said there could be no peace with India unless the long-standing dispute over Kashmir was resolved, but stressed the peace process between the arch rivals would continue.

Musharraf also said he would formally invite Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh to visit Islamabad for a second round of peace talks.

"Now we have to see whether they come before my U.N. visit. If they come they are most welcome, because we certainly would like to reciprocate their hospitality and we would like to move the discussions forward," he added.

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Musharraf and Vajpayee held two days of talks in Agra, India, earlier this month but failed to reach agreement on long-standing disputes, notably Kashmir.

The intensity of the dispute was highlighted on Friday as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged artillery fire across the line of control dividing them in the disputed Himalayan region, over which the two countries have fought in two of the three wars between them since independence in 1947.

Musharraf's comments marked the first time he has publicly spoken about his talks with Vajpayee held in the Indian city of Agra over two days earlier this week.

"The hope I have is, now I feel nobody can stop this (peace) process from moving forward," Musharraf said.

"We must learn from history, there is no military solution for the Kashmir issue...we have to understand this reality."

He stressed that he wanted to normalize relations with India.

"I went to the summit with a very sincere search for peace. I went to close the chapter of hostility, mistrust, suspicion. I went for peace...," he said, adding the ultimate goal was normalization of all political, economic and social relations with India.

Meanwhile, right-wing Hindu activists have trampled and kicked an effigy of Musharraf in New Delhi, saying the United Nations should declare the neighbouring country a terrorist state.

Members of the Shiv Sena party, a partner in India's federal coalition, gathered near the residence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpaee to protest against Pakistan's alleged support for terror in India -- a charge Islamabad denies.

"Pakistan encourages terrorism in India and Musharraf describes terrorists as freedom fighters. We will not tolerate this," Jai Bhagwan Goyal, a Shiv Sena leader, told reporters.

Goyal said he did not want India and Pakistan to resume talks after the summit in Agra ended without any concrete result.

"We will protest any move of the government to initiate any talks with Pakistan."

He said Shiv Sena would ask the U.N. to act against Pakistan.

"We are going to submit a memorandum to the United Nations Secretary General demanding to declare Pakistan a terrorist state," Goyal said.

Talks 'futile'

The party said talks with Pakistan were futile as long as Islamabad backed Muslim rebels fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Islamabad denies direct involvement in the revolt.

India controls about 45 percent of the disputed Himalayan territory comprising the regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Pakistan holds just over a third of the territory and China controls the remainder.

Pakistan argues Kashmiris, the majority of whom are Muslim, should choose whether they would rather be governed by Hindu-dominated India or be part of Pakistan, a Muslim nation. India claims the whole of the region for itself.

"The resolution of the Kashmir dispute is at the heart of Indo-Pakistan confrontation. This is the only issue blocking peace between us," Musharraf said.

He added that Kashmiri people must be included in the process, a proposal that India has so far refused to consider.

"Can we reach a resolution of this issue...without the involvement and wishes of the people of Kashmir?" Musharraf said. "No, we cannot reach it."

Empty-handed

Musharraf said he was not disappointed by the failure of the summit to reach a concrete agreement.

"I return empty handed but I am not disappointed because there was tremendous goodwill and more than that the resolve to carry forward the ... process," he said.

"We had substantial progress at Agra and we need to pick up the threads from there," he added.

Pakistan on Thursday accused India of apparently backing away from understandings reached at the summit and insisted the two nuclear rivals must build on vows made at the talks.

Vajpayee has held a series of consultations in India with ministers, coalition partners and opposition politicians to explain the tense and confusing end to the summit, generally winning support for his peace moves.

Reuters contributed to this report.