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Even as American Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca arrived in New Delhi on Monday, a top American expert on the region, Michael Herbert Krepon, founder-president of the Henry L Stimson Centre, left the Kashmir valley after a three-day stay.
During his visit, Krepon met senior officials of the state government and some leaders of the separatist movement in Kashmir, including All-Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Abdul Gani Bhat and Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah.
Sources said that during his long meetings with the separatist leaders, Krepon advised them to participate in the forthcoming assembly election in the state. The election is likely to be held in late September.
Bhat, however, told rediff.com that he did not discuss elections with the US expert. "He too did not discuss the issue," Professor Bhat said. "I briefed him in detail about the latest Kashmir situation."
Shah said Krepon discussed the situation in South Asia after September 11. "We also discussed the border situation after the attack on Parliament," he said.
"I urged him during our nearly three-hour-long discussions that the US should facilitate a dialogue since mediation is unacceptable to New Delhi," Shah added. "I told Krepon we cannot isolate Pakistan and that we have to involve it to solve the issue."
Shah said the separatists did not fear elections. "We don't want to run away from the polls," he told Krepon. "But elections have to be linked to a resolution of the Kashmir problem. Elections have failed to solve the problem so far. It was after the mass rigging of 1987 that our youths took to the gun."
He, however, added that the gun too could not solve the problem. "It is a political problem. All parties concerned have to adopt a flexible approach to resolve it."
Shah said that if a multilateral dialogue with US facilitation comes up with the idea that the people of Jammu & Kashmir should participate in elections as a step to evolving a solution to the problem, "we are ready to participate".
Krepon also met senior state officials and security force commanders who briefed him on the situation in Kashmir. His visit is significant because Rocca is now in New Delhi for talks with the Union government on the security scenario in the region and India's continuing standoff with Pakistan.
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