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        It is understandable that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is prepared to go the extra mile to help fructification of the Kashmir dialogue. His desire that General Musharraf should not handicap India's approach to the problem as related to what is premised by it as crucial is quite legitimate.

        The General has in a sense stormed world opinion with his proposals for resolving the Kashmir tangle and India's response should not appear stale. Hence the Prime Minister should have decided to have one-to-one talk with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, that too ahead of the latter's meeting with Musharraf. From the latter's standpoint, the meeting with Mirwaiz would soften the attack of Islamists of the General as caving in on Pakistan's firm position. It is doubtful whether he could secure any thaw in the Islamists' stiff stance against him.

        As for Mirwaiz, he cannot be expected to steer away from his much publicised stance that Kashmir should be allowed to have the choice of either acceding to Pakistan or becoming an independent sovereign State. Against this backdrop, both sides are forced into baulking at each other's position in a clueless manner.

        Manmohan Singh's idea of meeting Mirwaiz has divided the Congress in a way. One group believes that it would lock in the Hurriyat in the dialogue process. If so, the expectation is that pressure would intensify on terrorist groups to cease their violent operations. What is presumed here is what does not square with experience.

        Insurgency in Kashmir is borne on fundamentalist agenda of Islamisation which cannot stand compromises of any sort by whatever segment of opinion. Hurriyat is deemed not tough enough by them and they have reservations against it on the presumption that, discussing the General's proposals, is yielding to soft options of uncertain benefit.

        Ghulam Nabhi Azad, Kashmir Chief Minister, is strongly against the Prime Minister meeting Mirwaiz. His point is that this move could be taken by Hurriyat as conceding to it a right of veto on the peace process. Azad sees realities better than the Prime Minister. The Hurriyat calls itself a home grown organisation in the Kashmir Valley but, mostly because it was unsure of its position, it boycotted elections to the Kashmir Assembly. Moreover, the move to discuss Kashmir with it would only make its competitors more intransigent than now. Hurriyat itself is a divided house and the other Kashmiri groups like JKLF would project their secessionist agendas more pointedly to weaken Mirwaiz's claim to speak for Kashmiris.

        That is precisely why National Security Adviser M K Narayanan insists that the peace dialogue should be proceeded with without distracting it by any other proposals. That would force Pakistan to rein in insurgents who are helped to cross the border under the security cover provided on the sly by Pak army.

        The General has asked for a condominium- joint management- for Kashmir. His bona fides can be tested by asking him to agree to a beginning by facilitating joint management of water resources, tourism and trade which would help promote goodwill between the people of both India and Pakistan. And as the goodwill grows, terrorism would lose both its relevance and popularity among the people of Kashmir.

        The General is too shrewd and he will not fail to cleanse Mirwaiz's mind of whatever pro-India slant which the meeting with Manmohan Singh could have created.And even that slant may not measure to much amidst the hawks on the other side whom Mirwaiz cannot afford to displease.