The Kashmir war will now move to New York: experts

Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's impending visit to the United States will be far from a smooth one, foreign affairs experts warn.

And the cause, naturally, would be our 'friendly' neighbour who is certain to make a 'concerted effort to rake up the Kashmir issue.'

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief, experts claim, received a rude shock when Gujral recently stated he was not willing to discuss Indo-US relations during his meeting with President Bill Clinton. They point out this clarification upset Sharief's apparent gameplan to corner India on the Kashmir issue, which Clinton was sure to broach. But with Gujral's rejection of the US's mediatory role by emphasising that a third party need not come between India and Pakistan, Islamabad's hopes have been effectively scuttled.

"The disappointment is manifested in Pakistan's statement that 'world leaders cannot be coerced to close their eyes to these potential areas of confrontation to be subject to conditionalities,' " experts say.

As a result, they continue, indications have emerged that Pakistan is gearing up to launch a tirade against India on the Kashmir issue. In fact, Islamabad has already sent out messages to all its missions abroad.

"The intention is to paint India as a party unwilling to discuss Kashmir which has once against become the Nawaz Sharief government's raison d'etre both at home and abroad," experts point out.

Islamabad is also believed to be mobilising the pro-Pak caucus in Washington for internationalising the Kashmir issue during Gujral's visit.

"New Delhi too has adopted counter-measures by mobilising Washington's pro-India caucus," observers say, "So the Pakistani tirade would have no effect on the Indian stand."

New Delhi has frequently reiterated that any discussion on the border state would have to be conducted within the framework of the 1972 Shimla Agreement.