PDP spells out contours of self-rule proposal at WG meeting

New Delhi, Dec 12 (UNI) The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spelled out the broad contours of its self-rule proposal at the first meeting of the fifth Working Group on Jammu and Kashmir on Centre-State ties and urged India and Pakistan to settle the vexed issue at the earliest.

At the meeting, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the formula offered a comprehensive package for the resolution of the Kashmir issue as it addressed the internal as well as the external dimension of the issue.

''The internal dimensions includes issues on both the sides of the Line of Control (LOC) and the external dimensions concernes-- India, Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir,'' she added.

The PDP President said to achieve a stable and sustainable solution of issue, a combination of intra-state, inter-state and supra-state measures is necessary.

''This approach, which is the underlying the concept of self-rule is the only way that would eliminate the sources of ethno-territorial conflicts entrenched in the traditional notions of sovereignty, self-determination, national and ethnic borders,'' she observed.

Ms Mufti said the all-inclusive solution packaged in the party's self-rule proposal could be accomplished through economic integration and sharing of sovereignty without compromising sovereignty of either India or Pakistan.

''Self-rule as a political philosophy can be articulated around the concept of federalism and confederation that allow sharing of power between two levels of government with no subordination to one another. Each must exercise supreme sovereignty in its constitutional prerogatives,'' she explained.

Differentiating between self-rule and autonomy, Ms Mufti said the political context in which they are conceived and operate sets then apart.

''While self-rule refers to devolution of powers from the nation state of India, the autonomy connotes relative autonomy from the Government of India,'' she said.

''The two are vastly different in substance and style,'' she added.

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