Pakistan 'willing to give up claim on Kashmir'

Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to Kashmir if India agrees to a far-reaching self-governance plan for the Himalayan region, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf suggested today.

While New Delhi and Islamabad have made scant public progress on settling their dispute over Kashmir, officials on both sides privately say advances have been made in so-called “back-channel” negotiations, most of them among retired officials from both sides.