Musharraf 'best bet' for India to resolve Kashmir issue: Omar

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) National Conference (NC) chief Omar Abdullah today asserted that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was India's ''best bet'' to resolve the long-drawn Kashmir imbroglio and said New Delhi must ''grab'' the opportunity to permanently settle the issue during his tenure.

''Gen Musharraf is the best bet for India to do business with...

he has shifted from the traditional maximalist position on Kashmir and shown flexibility,'' Mr Abdullah, who returned from a six-day Pakistan visit last evening, told UNI here.

The President has realised that the issue needs to be ''buried'' and that is essential for the region to move ahead in the world hierarchy,'' he added.

Mr Abdullah, who held a 45-minute one-on-one meeting with President Musharraf in Islamabad, said India must seriously consider and respond to the General's proposals of self-governance and joint management.

This was the maiden meeting between Mr Abdullah and General Musharraf. Pakistan has so far not recognised elected leaders from Jammu and Kashmir as the representatives of the people.

''Gen Musharraf has extended a hand well within the fitness of things...India must grab the opportunity with both hands and not lose it,'' said the National Conference chief, who is the first ever mainstream political leader from Jammu and Kashmir to visit Pakistan in the past more than 30 years.

''These proposal are not outlandish. Successive Indian governments have stated that out of box solutions are required...

they must be responded to and at least talked about,'' reiterated Mr Abdullah, who had gone to Islamabad to attend the Pugwash roundtable conference on Kashmir.

He said there were no guarantees that President Musharraf's successor would be more flexible than him.

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