Pakistan accepts the reality of Kashmir

India, Pakistan vow better economic ties(AP)

NEW DELHI, India - The peace process between India and Pakistan is now "irreversible," leaders of the two longtime rival nations said Monday, announcing a series of agreements to increase trade and cross-border travel in Kashmir.

With Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf standing beside him, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the two had agreed to continue talks on the divided region of Kashmir, the heart of decades of disputes, in "a sincere and purposeful manner" until a settlement was found.

Musharraf said there had been a change in attitude in Pakistan about Kashmir, which is split between the neighbors but claimed in its entirety by both. The two nuclear armed rivals have fought two wars over it.

"Domestically there is a realization that the military option is not the option any more," he told Indian journalists. "The strategy of a coercive diplomacy is no more an option."

Talat Masood, a former general in the Pakistani army, said Islamabad appeared reconciled to "India's position on the territorial aspect of Kashmir."

The decisions marked a major shift in how India and Pakistan have approached Kashmir, said C. Raja Mohan, a New Delhi-based professor of South Asian studies.

Raja Mohan said the two countries appeared headed for an agreement on tackling regional terrorism.

Musharraf assured Singh that Pakistan won't allow its territory to be used for terrorism against India.

More than a dozen Islamic militant groups are fighting in Indian-controlled Kashmir for the region's independence or its merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan. Most groups are based in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The 15-year insurgency has claimed more than 66,000 lives.