ISLAMABAD (AFP) - President Pervez Musharraf called for a national debate on ways to resolve Pakistan's dispute with India over Kashmir, with options to include independence or joint control of the Himalayan state.
Other solutions to be considered include demilitarising Kashmir and placing sections of it under United Nations mandate, Musharraf told a reception of government officials, diplomats and media.
"I have never spoken like this before to anyone. I will request you to debate on these lines," Musharraf said, describing his options as "food for thought" for the nation.
Musharraf said a "change of status" for Kashmir must be discussed.
"Change in status could be independent status... joint control, it can be UN mandate also," he said.
"We'll have to sit down with legal experts who can give their opinion on what other status are possible, I don't know."
Musharraf said progress had been made when he met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month, and he was optimistic the 57-year dispute could be resolved,
"I strongly believe there are options and there is a solution," he said. "For the first time we see light at the end of the tunnel."
Kashmir has been divided between Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India since the two nations gained independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the Himalayan state and the dispute has been the cause of two of their three wars.
Pakistan's long-held position over Kashmir has been that its people should vote in a plebiscite to decide which nation the state should join.
But Musharraf emphasised on Monday that a plebiscite was not acceptable to India, and therefore other options must be explored.
In what appears to be a new non-negotiable position, Musharraf said the one thing that was not acceptable for Pakistan was making the line of control that divides Kashmir into Pakistani and Indian zones a permanent border.
"I'm allergic to this and the Indians know that," he said. "A plebiscite is not acceptable to India and making line of control a permanent border is not acceptable to Pakistan."
Musharraf said Kashmir should be looked at as seven regions, five of which are currently under Indian control and two under Pakistan.
The next step was to consider demilitarising all or some of the regions, he said, followed by changing their status.
"So there is some solution, identify regions, demilitarise, change status. The whole debate on options will be based on this," he said.
After their meeting in New York, Musharraf and Singh jointly released a statement saying that the two sides had agreed to explore possible options for a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute "in a sincere spirit and purposeful manner".
The statement did not give any details about what the options were.
The New York meeting stepped up momentum in a peace process initiated by Singh's predecessor, Atal Behari Vajpayee, in April 2003 when extended a symbolic "hand of friendship" to Pakistan.
Pakistan and India announced last week they had agreed on a schedule of eight bilateral meetings over the next two months as a way of promoting dialogue on contentious issues.
Pakistan's foreign office also said on Monday that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would visit India next month as part of a tour of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation nations.
10/25/2004 - 19:12 GMT - AFP