Labour Party leader Tony Blair has implied British intervention over Kashmir in an election-eve interview were his party to come to power.
The pledge by Blair, looking certain to become the new Prime Minister of Britain after polling today if opinion polls are to be believed, may herald troubled relations between India and a new Labour government over the Kashmir issue.
Blair said in an interview to the Gujarati weekly Garavi Gujarat that Britain must accept its responsibility as the former imperial power in a dispute that dates from the arrangements for independence.
Blairs pledge means that in the 50th year of Indian independence, a new British government is commited to re-opening the arrangements for independence. Tony Blair has declared that Britain is under an obligation to seek a solution. Such a solution, he said in the interview, must be based on our commitment to peace, democracy, human rights and mutual tolerance.
India Abroad News Service
A Labour government, he said, will use its good offices with India and Pakistan to assist in a negotiated solution to this tragic dispute.
The stand taken by Mr Blair contrasts sharply with Prime Minister John Majors position in an interview to the magazine. Mr. Major said that a Tory government would be prepared to act as a broker for peace should both sides ask for our help. He made no mention of any obligation of Britain as a former imperial power.
Mr. Major clarified that one precondition to a solution must be an end to external support for militancy, an issue that neither Mr. Blair now nor any Labour leader in the past has touched upon.
Commenting on relations with India, Mr. Tony Blair said: It was a Labour government which granted independence. He spoke of improving relations with India but dodged a question of supporting the bid by India to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
To that Mr. Blair said: Labour is in favour of reform of the Security Council. We believe that it should be enlarged. Currently it reflects the state of the world in 1948, not the world of the late 20th century. There should be better representation of the different regions of the world and there needs to be an international discussion as to how this could be best achieved.
His views differed markedly from the views of previous party chief John Smith who had specifically supported the case for India to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
Mr. Blairs views on Kashmir were consistent with the party policy on the disputed state announced at a Labour conference in 1995. That Labour policy document speaks of Kashmir as an area bounded by India and other countries. It backs a U.N. sponsored plebiscite in Kashmir though it says the Shimla agreement is also one way to attempt to solve the problem.
-India Abroad News Service (Credit Mandatory) ends/30.4.97
