But sources said the initial reaction is that there is no question of redrawing the boundaries or changing the external status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, the sources added that the question of autonomy in the state or in a part of the state was a matter of internal debate and discussion within India.

That the government is wary in its response can be understood especially in light of the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, taking up a hawkish position on any negotiations with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh declared that any suggestion to redraw the map of South Asia was not acceptable to his party.

He also insisted that any suggestion of transfer of sovereignty or territorial transfer was a non-started and insisted that any solution would have to be ratified by Parliament and be acceptable to all parties before the government agrees to it.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had, at an iftar (when the fast in the month of Ramzan is broken) party for journalists on October 25, said a plebiscite or the Line of Control cannot be the basis for any solution between India and Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir.

Instead, he said the regions of the huge state (currently divided between India and Pakistan) should be identified and the area of dispute can either be given freedom or joint control.

Shorn of diplomatic language, what the General, who remains Chief of the Pakistan Army, is implying is that the Kashmir Valley, which is where most of the trouble for India emanates from, can either be given freedom or jointly controlled by both India and Pakistan.

For the remaining regions (the undivided Jammu and Kashmir is a huge state of around 85,000 square miles) the status quo would continue. A slice of the west and the bulk of the extreme north is with Pakistan; the rest (including the regions of Jammu and Ladakh, besides the Valley) is with India. China has annexed the Aksai Chin region, which is part of Ladakh that India claims.

Incidentally, Musharraf came up with the suggestion after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him to come up with suggestions to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

The two had met in New York on September 24. Musharraf urged the people to debate his suggestions, saying they were food for thought.

Sources said Musharraf's statements only indicate that Pakistan has realised that the position it held for so long (of holding a plebiscite) is no longer tenable.

But not closing all doors, the sources added that there are several options that need to be considered in resolving Jammu and Kashmir. The sources added that considerable distance needed to be covered before any realistic solutions could be suggested.

The last part probably stems for the realistic realisation that before India officially agrees to consider the proposals, it will first have to win over public support, especially that of the BJP that have already begun to take a strong nationalistic line, refusing to make any concessions at this stage.

The idea of joint control is based on the Andorra model being touted in some circles, since India is most unlikely to ever give freedom to the Vale for fear of this sparking off similar demands elsewhere, especially in the Northeast.

Andorra, a small principality in the Pyrenees whose heads of state are the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell, called the Coprinceps. Andorra has its own government and constitution and freedom in most internal matters; in external relations the Coprinceps play a major role.

The ideal being floated is that while the status quo on the other regions can be maintained (the Northern Region with Pakistan, Jammu and Ladakh with India), in the Valley, whose overwhelmingly Muslim population have for long been agitating against Indian rule, the Andorra model can be applied.

This means India would retain some control, jointly with Pakistan, over matters of defence and external affairs, but in the internal and cultural matters, the Vale would be more or less completely autonomous.

For Pakistan, it can sell this model to its populace as a partial victory, saying that Islamabad has not abandoned the Muslim population of the Valley and will have some say in their lives, even if indirectly and jointly with India.

Musharraf's suggestion that that plebiscite is no longer a solution must surely be music to New Delhi' ears, since he is stating a line that India has been repeating ad nauseum over the past half-century, but not entirely convincing the world about it.

By floating his idea, Musharraf has at least ensured that the subject will be debated and discussed.

And after the initial reactions and hesitations, one might hear more measured responses. For instance, the BJP did say it won't agree to a transfer of sovereignty, but it has not yet said anything about 'sharing' sovereignty.

Earlier reports:

Demilitarise J&K, says Musharraf; Govt quiet
Musharraf-baiters slam plan
J&K separatists all ears

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