 Today we will discuss the external dimensions of cashmere talks. I am saying external dimension because that is what comes when you speak of international relations. So cashmere issue has an external dimension and it also has an internal dimension. When you discuss international relations we may not talk about the internal situation but these are interconnected. So without dealing with the internal situation we cannot deal with the external situation. So the Government of India has been dealing with both these aspects continuously for the last 70 years or so. So we have these ups and downs. Sometimes things seem to work out. Other times they don't and we go into despair. Then we wait for some time and then some signal comes from somewhere and then we try to grasp it. And then again situation gets into difficulties. Why does it have an external dimension? Because we took the issue to the United Nations. We need not have done that because you must have heard about the blunder of having taken this issue to the Security Council. But Pandit Naru felt that as a newly independent country he should not be fighting a war on cashmere and the United Nations had just been established and the right body to deal with is the United Nations Security Council. In all earnestness, in all good faith, he took into the United Nations Security Council and hoped that this problem will be resolved because the cases, the legal cases on our side, the constitutional cases on our side. So there was no reason why this should be delayed. But we made one mistake here. We did not go to the Security Council by saying that we have been attacked, aggression. We did not take it under Chapter 7 of the Charter which is aggression and all the wisdom that we had, our people had in that time. They decided to take it under peaceful resolution of disputes. I think this was a mistake because peaceful resolution of disputes can go on and on and on. While if it was under Chapter 7 as aggression, perhaps things would have moved better. But the important thing that we have to remember is that the Security Council is not a political body, it is not a judicial body. The members of the Security Council started looking at this issue as giving them a sense of importance in resolving the problems and therefore they started looking at it from their own perspective. So this has continued ever since and we now have changed our position that we do not want this to be considered in the Security Council. We would be very happy if we can take it away from the Security Council. But Pakistan will not agree to that and therefore this issue remains there. And it has been further complicated by the fact that both the countries have become nuclear weapons states. So the whole world is interested in Kashmir because any explosion taking place in Kashmir would be a nuclear explosion. And even that happens, it is not only India and Pakistan which will be destroyed but a better part of the world also. So it has become an issue of considerable importance. If we did not have nuclear weapons either side, it would not have been so. But now the world's attention is focused on this issue because this is now a hot spot. In fact, there is no other situation where two nuclear weapons states developing countries ready to fight and both are very convinced that this is their case and therefore nobody is willing to make any compromise. So the world looks at the Kashmir regime as a problem which will threaten international peace and security. And therefore nobody will leave it for us to decide on it because there will be so many issues there. And Pakistan keeps bringing it up at every body of the United Nations trying to pass resolutions. Resolutions have been passed but they misread the resolution. So they have somehow convinced the world that India is somehow lacking in finding a solution to the Kashmir problem. And unfortunately, many countries seem to believe it was. But we have repeatedly said that it is an integral part of India and nobody else has acclaimed to it. And Pakistan says that they have acclaimed to Kashmir value and they can settle this only if the Kashmir value is given to them. So it's a first-rate international security issue but nobody is interested in making it into an explosive situation. And therefore, even though Pakistan is trying to agitate this issue in various forums, it is not working. There are enough friends for us in the Security Council and they also have enough friends in the Security Council that it has reached some kind of an impasse. Nothing is happening there. So the international dimension as a result has only become a debating point because every time the subject comes up in the Security Council, the UN Assembly, Economic and Social Council, everybody of the UN this comes up and Pakistan tries to agitate it. We try to answer them and nobody else interferes. And the whole thing is put away for the next session of the embassy. So at the same time, if we do not solve the problem internally, it will be also difficult because many people don't seem to understand the logic of our argument. For example, most people don't know that India is the second largest Muslim country in the world. So they think that India is muscling the Muslims in India and ruling over a state which has a Muslim majority, which is not true. Everybody has equal rights and nobody is being suppressed or oppressed. So in the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he dealt with the external issue, tried to remove the threat from Pakistan. So he started reacting very strongly to any action they took on the border. He pushed them out. There were several encounters and so almost a war was fought in order to control the situation on the border. And it was a complete, never shall we say, a complete home pass. There is no progress at all on both sides. So we were aware that we have to also deal with our own people. And the second term, Prime Minister Modi decided to deal with some of the internal issues, like Article 370. There's nothing to do with the rest of the world. Article 370 is part of our constitution. Nobody has any business to talk about it. And it was a temporary position and he decided to abolish it. And also Article 315, 351. Both these were annulled. And also the state, Yaman Kashmir State was divided into two union territories. And this this provoked the people in Kashmir and it became necessary for the government to control the situation by using strong measures like closing down the internet or jailing the leaders. So since August last year, 2020, there has been a problem about the freedom not being given to these leaders. So they were agitating not only in India but also outside. But almost a year we fought with this situation. And finally, in a surprising move, Mr. Modi invited the Kashmiri leaders for a conversation at his home. This was quite surprising because we were under the impression that they're all very bitter and they didn't want any conversation unless these orders were removed like the farmers who say that they will not withdraw the agitation unless the bills are withdrawn. But in this particular case, surprisingly, the leaders of the movements in Kashmir came to see the Prime Minister at his home. This was quite an achievement because they came and they're willing to discuss. And there is some hope, a glimmer of hope in that we'll be able to discuss it and resolve it. But what are the resolutions that they want? The local leaders want Article 370 to be restored. That's out of the question because Article 370 was a temporary measure and there is no question of it being brought back. Similarly, it was not possible for India to agree to bring these two sections of Jammu and Kashmir together because the dark has its own characteristics. And so what is on the cards is that compromise in the sense that the Government of India will complete the delimitation of the constituencies etc. That's what we are doing at the moment. And then probably declare Jammu and Kashmir as a state and not a union theater. So there are indications that that much India is willing to do. But the leaders like Mughal Bhamofi or Karu Khabdullah, they are themselves not united on this. Mughal Bhamofi insists that Article 370 should be restored while the others are not so particular if they can get freedom in the total freedom in the state and elections are held and there is a Government of the people of Kashmir, they might be satisfied. But this is just the beginning, just the beginning of a solution. And though there is a hope that this might lead to something, but it is not very sure, but it will be resolved easily. So the problem in Jammu and Kashmir of course is terror, intimidation, extremism and religious fundamentalism mainly instigated by Pakistan. So Pakistan's involvement also makes it an external issue because what does Pakistan have to do with Kashmir? But they are agitating, they are sending terrorists into the country, making Jammu and Kashmir into a battlefield and any dialogue with the dissidents or with Pakistan became impossible because India insisted that we cannot have war and peace at the same time. We cannot have talks and terrorism at the same time. So that it had reached a kind of state when there was nothing could be done either way. And so Mr. Maudi is trying to see the way out by first declaring and be giving the status of a state and have elections. And that may satisfy some of them. So the bold decisions were taken by the Central Government in August 2020 to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A. And to bifurcate the states to new Union territories opened up both the external and the internal fronts. Pakistan and China were involved and accused India of unilaterally changing the status quo because though they have no local standard, both China and Pakistan believe that they have because they are in occupation of parts of our country. So though China always says that we have nothing to do with this is to be sold between India and Pakistan, they are very much involved. And it is difficult to do anything with the Pakistanis fighting or terrorizing the people. So when the measures were taken to prevent an insurrection by arresting political leaders, crushing protests and shutting off communications, the pressure mounted on the government to normalize the situation. It was even suspected that the Chinese action in Ladakh was an account of, online of control was an account of the changes in Union cash. Nobody says so, but we suspect that and we even suspect that Pakistan and China might get together and think of some joint action. The first change came when the surprise announcement by India and Pakistan at the level of directors, general and military operations to reinstate the ceasefire on the border in February 2021. And this led to a speculation that India and Pakistan had opened some back channel discussions to resume the dialogue. There is some evidence of that. This ceasefire, to continue the ceasefire, that decision could not have been taken at a lower level. It is really taken at a very high level. And there was an understanding from Pakistan government and Indian government that we cannot go on like this. And therefore there was some element of compromise there. So Pakistan said that we have received an indication from India that India wants to talk to us and they even claim that we have started talking. But India has not accepted this today. There is a thunderous silence from India. They have not said anything about, they have not denied it. There have been special envoys, the national security advisers have been traveling, they were found in UAE or they were found in other places. But in spite of all that, India is not accepting or admitting that there is any kind of conversation taking place. But it is possible that this is happening. And so there may be some solution in the offering. There are reports of several meetings between them confined by the other countries which have facilitated such meetings. And even the factors which prompted the thought was also attributed to President Biden, who has an interest in Pakistan. He has an interest in India too. But in the context of Afghanistan and having to withdraw from Afghanistan by September, he has a vested interest in dealing with Pakistan. So if Afghanistan has to be settled, he needs Pakistan and therefore he might be more receptive to Pakistani ideas. So having dealt with the external dimension by breaking the ice with Pakistan, which we believe may have happened. Having removed the many restrictions in JNK, Mr Modi pulled out a rabbit out of his hat by convening an all-party meeting, including the leaders of JNK who were detained earlier. There was no guarantee that they would attend such a meeting but they actually went and the meeting was without bitterness or arguments. But after the meeting was over, the next day onwards, different participants had started giving different interpretations of what happened. So even though on that particular day everybody kept quiet and did not create an argument, but later each one of them gave their own solution to the problem and there is nothing common about it. But there were no bitterness or arguments. There was even an indication that a new consensus could be forged in favor of an early return of democratic governance and a full statehood for JNK. So which would be an issue which might satisfy both Pakistan and the internal parties. But what would be the eventual outcome? The meeting itself gave a signal to Pakistan and the rest of the world that this is not the end of the road for India and Pakistan. We are not talking to each other openly but we have been engaged in consultations and it's not that the whole thing is frozen. So that indication that India and Pakistan are talking to each other and there could be a solution has given everybody some kind of feeling of comfort. There was a sense that the center would not reverse the decision on Article 370 and that they had to accept. But it could well give it a statehood and role connections. So this group, the nationalist leaders of the Nationalist Leaders of Kaisenia were called Gukkar Al-Az. He said grouping of convenience as a public phase of a group of organizations and they are becoming irrelevant gradually. And the unity among them is quite tenuous. The positions of Aruq Abdullah and National Conference and Mehmed Uba Mufti or the People's Democratic Party are not fully harmonized on the autonomy issue. But the laws of the NDA, the Gukkar Alliance in the civil elections gave them a little bit of a boost. They started believing that they have support in Kaisenia. So the challenge of the JNK leaders is to gain a statehood first and then work out a plan with the center for good governance with a commitment to unity, peace and development. So there is a glimmer of hope that instead of hankering after the old architecture that has been demolished, a new one will be built if there is mutual trust and confidence. It's too early to express such a confidence. But since there is no way out, this might be the way to go. And if Pakistan is also unreasonable, because there will not be reasonable for them, there is no solution without Srinagar becoming part of Pakistan. And for us, naturally, we are not going to give away Kaisenia to Pakistan. So the fact that we are talking in spite of the position that we will not talk unless the terrorism ends, it seems to be working. And there are also reports that terrorism has reduced JNK. And that's a good sign. So on the one hand, the conversations between national security advisors. On the other hand, Pakistan becoming more reasonable about raising this in every body of the United Nations. The Guqar alliance's willingness to talk about a solution with the government, the willingness of the government to restore the status of JNK, not 370. And all these are good signs. But I'm not going to say that these are going to solve problems, because the term is very much there. And even though they may be cooperating, collaborating, etc., when it comes to the brass packs, when it comes to the solution of the problem, more issues will come up. So in a sense, Mr. Modi has gained some influence that these people came to talk to him. But nothing much should not be read into it. And so we have to deal with the external problems and the internal problems, because they strengthen each other. And that is our problem. So the external dimension is very much a part of the problem. And the internal situation is also very significant. So let's hope something will happen. Thank you very much.