January 4: The 12th SAARC Summit, a historic opportunity for Pakistan and India to build on peace moves, opens in Islamabad. During the summit, the SAARC leaders discuss a 6-point agenda finalized by their foreign ministers for South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), additional protocol on terrorism and social charter, aimed at social development and poverty alleviation. Prime minister of Pakistan Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee meet on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, the first direct talks between leaders of the two neighboring countries in more than two years.
January 7: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair urges Pakistan and India to hold 'proper, meaningful' dialogue to resolve their dispute over Kashmir. 'Both countries in these very difficult times understand the need to defeat terrorism and resolve difficult issues through dialogue and partnership”, says Blair.
January 12: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, in a televised address to the nation, calls for a peaceful end to the dispute over Kashmir and for a renewed spirit of national unity. He says, “Kashmir runs in our blood. No Pakistani can afford to sever links with Kashmir. We will continue to extend our moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris. We will never budge from our principle stand on Kashmir issue, which must be resolved through dialogue in accordance with the wishes of the people of Pakistan and in accordance with the UN resolutions.”
January 13: Iftikhar Gilani, prominent Kashmiri journalist and son-in-law of senior Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Gilani, is released in New Delhi from seven months of unlawful confinement. The release follows withdrawal of fabricated case against him by the Indian government.
All Parties Hurriyet Conference welcomes the stand taken by Pakistan President Perverz Musharraf on Kashmir in his televised address and urges India to respond positively to resolve the issue. “We welcome the stand taken by President Musharraf on Kashmir issue and urge India to respond positively to find a solution to the issue,” sys the APHC Chairman Abdul Gani Butt. Butt also calls for comprehensive efforts to resume dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve Kashmir issue peacefully.
January 19: US Secretary of State Collin Powell welcomes the improving relations between Pakistan and India and says the standoff between India and Pakistan has eased since SAARC summit, as both sides are committed to a diplomatic solution of all the problems. “Based on my conversations in both Islamabad and New Delhi, I think things are improving,' Powell tells Fox News in a pre-recorded interview from Tokyo, where he is attending a conference on aid to Afghanistan. “I am encouraged that both President (Pervez) Musharraf and Prime Minister (Atal Behari) Vajpayee are committed to finding a political and diplomatic solution. “
February 11: Senior Hurriyet leaders, camping in New Delhi, meet the diplomats from UK, France, Germany, Iran and Pakistan and are scheduled to interact with the senior US diplomats, a spokesman of APHC tell media. The Hurriyet leaders apprise the diplomats about the latest situation in occupied Kashmir and urge the world community to come forward for the peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.
March 8: Islamabad invites Indian Home Minister L K Advani to visit Pakistan and discuss all contentious issues. Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider extends the invitation during his meeting with Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj at the SAARC Information Ministers conference.
March 9: The puppet regime in occupied Kashmir acknowledges that DNA samples taken from five men, blamed for the massacre of 35 Sikhs two years ago, have been tampered with. The Kashmiris say that the people whose samples have been sent for identification are among the innocent victims of this gory incident. The puppet Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah also says that it appears that fake samples have been sent suggesting, ' those responsible are hiding something.”
March 26: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while speaking at a function in Himachal Pradesh says any talks with Pakistan would have to be held within the purview of the Shimla and the Lahore agreements. Washington says it accords top priority to India-Pak relations and the situation in Kashmir. White House Press Secretary Arie Fleischer says, because of tension between India and Pakistan, the peaceful resolution of any of the differences involving Kashmir, is important. He says, ”So it (Kashmir) is a top priority, it is something that the president has focused on, as well as the state department too, of course”.
March 31: Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, renews a call for the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue and says his government is ready for talks. Musharraf says that Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the wishes of Kashmiris and his government was ready for talks with India to work out a durable solution to it. He says this during his conversation with Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, Sikandar Hayat Khan in Islamabad.
April 02: White House Press Secretary Arie Fleischer says that US President George W Bush is working hard with India and Pakistan to settle disputes that could worsen a volatile situation.
April 05: The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Donald Camp says in Washington that United States believes that there is a real danger of military conflict in South Asia, but hopes that Pakistan and India would soon resume bilateral dialogue to discuss all issues, including Kashmir.
April 09: Members of the lawyers delegation from Indian held Kashmir demand “freedom of movement across the Line of Control (LoC)” that divides Kashmir, and invite India and Pakistan to hold talks on Kashmir in Srinagar. They make this demand while addressing a gathering at Islamabad. Four valley-based lawyers are on tour of Pakistan to attend a lawyers' conference in Islamabad.
April 11: The OIC Kashmir Contact Group in a meeting in Geneva affirms that a plebiscite under UN auspices to determine the wishes of the Kashmiri people could be the only viable basis for peaceful settlement of this dispute.
April 16: “United States is ready to offer any help to India and Pakistan in resolving the Kashmir dispute provided both the countries want it”, American Ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill says in Chandigarh. 'Any solution on Kashmir has to be reached between India and Pakistan. We are not going to mediate on the issue until both countries ask us to do so. We are waiting for our phone to ring from both sides,' Blackwill adds.
April 17: Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the line of control meet in Sharjah for the first time in several years and express optimism that the Kashmir issue can be solved through dialogue.
April 24: The United States continues to work for peace in Kashmir and resolution of Indo-Pakistan differences despite the media focus on the West Asia, and the Bush administration achieves 'a nice bit of success' there, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer tells media. -'We are busily engaged in ... continuing to work towards peace involving Kashmir, and issues involving India and Pakistan, it has been a nice bit of success, it continues to be an important part of the world,' Fleischer says at a press briefing in Washington.
April 27: APHC leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq terms the recent Dubai meeting a success where Kashmiri leaders discussed matters pertaining to resolution of Kashmir issue through comprehensive and peaceful negotiations.
April 23: The World Bank in its latest report warns, Kashmir crisis can end in a nuclear exchange that will wreak enormous physical and economic devastation in both India and Pakistan.
May 10: Reiterating the Hurriyet stand on so-called elections, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Ghani Butt makes it clear the APHC will not participate in the coming so-called assembly elections. Butt says elections are no solution to the Kashmir problem, which only purposeful tripartite talks can solve.
May 15: Addressing a press conference in Islamabad US Assistant Secretary of the State Christina Rocca says Pakistan and India's military standoff is a major area of focus for the US administration. We would continue to work for the reduction of tension between India and Pakistan.
May 16: American diplomat Christina Rocca ends a two-day visit to India for reducing the military standoff between the nuclear-armed rivals but reports little sign of progress. 'This is not the work of one trip. We're very worried about the continued mobilisation of two major armies facing each other at close proximity and the possibility of a spark that could lead to an unintended conflict,' Ms. Rocca says before leaving for Islamabad.
May 18: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf reiterates in a function in Islamabad that Pakistan will continue diplomatic, political and moral support to the ongoing Kashmir freedom struggle in occupied Kashmir and would never abandon its principled stand on the matter.
Initiating major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, India gives a week time to Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jahangir Qazi to leave the country.
May 21: APHC leader Abdul Ghani Lone along with his bodyguard is shot dead while attending a ceremony commemorating the assassination of prominent Kashmiri leader, Mir Waiz Maulvi Farooq.
Pakistan issues an angry condemnation of the cold-blooded murder of APHC leader Abdul Ghani Lone.
May 24: The British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in a statement calls Kashmir 'unfinished business' and stresses the question as to 'who should run Kashmir is never fully resolved'.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hints at opening a door when he says that the government has always been ready to talk to the Hurriyet. ''I am inviting them for talks,'' he says.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell twice speaks to President Pervez Musharraf on telephone, expresses the dire urgency to de-escalate the extremely high tension between Pakistan and India.
India resolves to order military strikes against what was described as militants based in Azad Kashmir unless Pakistan moves aggressively to dismantle “extremist organisations”. The decision is taken at a meeting of top Indian military and security officials in IHK attended by the Indian prime minister, defence minister and other cabinet members.
May 28: Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, in his address to the nation on TV Radio assures the world community that no infiltration is taking pace across the LoC, but makes it quite clear that liberation movement is going on in occupied Kashmir and Pakistan cannot be held responsible for any action against the Indian tyranny and repression.
The All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt says that war is not a solution to the Kashmir problem but it would only complicate the issue.
Leaders of NATO express concern about the conflict between India and Pakistan. French President Jacques Chirac after NATO meeting talking to reporters says we have to make a great effort to amicably pressure (India and Pakistan) to avoid the worst.
May 29: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says Kashmir dispute could only be resolved through negotiations between Pakistan and India, and not through war or terrorism.
June 7: Indian government decides to form a “Joint Task Force” (JTF) on the lines of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to coordinate with the puppet regime of occupied Kashmir to crush liberation struggle of Kashmiris.
India rejects a Pakistani proposal for an international force to patrol the powder-keg region of Kashmir but says it is open to setting up a joint force with Pakistan.
June 09: Syed Ali Geelani is arrested under POTA and shifted to the Ranchi central jail. His two son-in-laws, Altaf Fantoosh and Iftikhar Geelani are also arrested.
June 11: India takes the first step towards de-escalation of Indo-Pak tensions by announcing lifting of the over six-month ban on over flights by Pakistani aircraft.
June 14: Speaking at a joint press conference in Islamabad with Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says, the United States does not have any evidence of Al-Qaeda men being active in Kashmir. “We do have a good deal of intelligence from people who say they believed that Al-Qaeda men are in Kashmir, or are in various locations. However it tends to be speculative, it is not verifiable, it is not actionable.”
June 12: The United States is willing to play a role as 'facilitator of dialogue' between India and Pakistan but has no desire to mediate their long-running feud over Kashmir, Secretary of State Colin Powell says.
June 17: India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee says Pakistan's promises -- not American pressure -- have prevented war between the South Asian rivals. In an interview with Dainik Jagran, Vajpayee also indicates that New Delhi stepped back from the option of armed conflict with Pakistan after a six-month standoff involving a million troops along the border.
June 23: Omer Abdullah takes over from his father Farooq Abdullah to become the third generation of his family to lead pro-Indian National Conference.
June 24: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is another Palestine in the making. In an interview with British newspaper Independent he says the dangers can only be averted if we resolve the Kashmir dispute. President Pervez Musharraf says Kashmir is our national interest. Pakistan has always given moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris. LoC will not be accepted as international border. Autonomy for Kashmir is also not acceptable.
June 26: Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) appeals India and Pakistan to exercise self-restraint and resolve Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions. Addressing the 29th session of OIC Foreign Ministers in Khartoum, Dr, Abdelouhahed Belkeziz offers its mediation and good offices to defuse tension and pave way for a dialogue between the two countries.
June 28: The Three-day 29th session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) in Khartoum reaffirms its support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions. The Conference calls for appointing a Special Representative of the OIC Secretary-General on Jammu and Kashmir, and for sending an OIC Fact Finding Mission to Jammu and Kashmir.
India's interior ministry bans Kashmiri women's group Dukhtaran-e-Millat.
July 05: Pakistan reiterates, Indian plan to hold elections in the held Kashmir as clearly against UN resolution, which stipulate that the final disposition of occupied Jammu and Kashmir would be in accordance with the will of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial plebiscite.
July 09: Amnesty International expresses fear that the four persons accused in the Indian Parliament attack case may not receive a fair trial.
July 10: US Secretary of State Colin Powell tells the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that the US is anxious to get through the Indo-Pak crisis “so that we can start to move forward to find a solution to the problem in Kashmir ultimately.”
July 13: 29 people including eight women and a child are killed and over thirty five others injured, ten of them critically, when unknown armed men lob hand grenades and later open fire in Qasim Nafar area, at Narwal By-pass on the outskirts of Jammu.
July 14: The All Parties Hurriyet Conference strongly condemns killings at Qasim Nagar in Jammu and expresses profound sorrow over the loss of innocent lives.
July 18: The United States rejects Indian demands that Pakistan be put on the US list of terrorist states, calling Pakistan a stalwart ally in the fight against terrorism. US State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher reiterates this in a statement.
The risk of a devastating conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir remains real despite recent steps by the nuclear-armed neighbours to ease tensions, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw saiys while speaking in Tokyo
July 28: US Secretary of State Colin Powel in a news conference in New Delhi says that Kashmir is on the international agenda. The US would provide a helping hand to all sides in order to resolve the Kashmir issue.
APHC welcomes US Secretary of State Colin Powell's call that India should free political prisoners and permit observers for the upcoming vote in occupied Kashmir, but held firm on their refusal to participate in the polls. Abdul Ghani Butt, the chairman of APHC tells AFP, “Powell is absolutely right that Kashmir is on the international agenda.”
US Secretary of State Colin Powell in a news conference in Islamabad says, “its time to make regional stability permanent. Kashmir is on the international agenda." Powell says India could boost confidence in Kashmir by freeing political prisoners and allowing independent observers to monitor the polls.
The European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana during a joint news conference in Islamabad with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Inamul Haq says, "Elections are no permanent solution to the issue of Kashmir."
July 31: The US State Department acting spokesman Phillipe Reeker during news briefing in Washington says, the Kashmir dispute must be resolved through a healthy political process and a vibrant dialogue between India and Pakistan that takes into account the wishes of the people of Kashmir.
August 02: Talking to journalists in Colombo (Sri Lanka), Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf again calls on India to join Pakistan's efforts for finding a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute in line with the UN resolutions and wishes of Kashmiris.
French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, addressing a joint press conference with Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha in New Delhi calls on India and Pakistan to resume dialogue to reduce tension between the two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals.
Occupied Kashmir’s so-called assembly elections will be held in four phases, says Indian Chief Election Commissioner JM Lingdoh. The first phase of elections will be held on September 16, followed by the second on the September 24, third on October 1 and the fourth and last on October 8.
August 3: A seven-member committee, headed by former Indian law minister, Ram Jethmalani, is formed to work for the de-escalation of Indo-Pak border tension and enter into dialogue with the Hurriyet conference and other pro-liberation groups to find an amicable solution to the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.
August 6: Indian troops in disguise lob grenades and open fire on pilgrims at the base camp of Amarnath Yatra at Nuwan in Pahalgam, killing at least 9 people and injuring 32 others.
August 8: A five-member delegation of the European Union meets the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to discuss situation of IOK in the context of forthcoming assembly polls.
August 11: Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Digvijav Singh, rules out allowing foreign observers during the forthcoming assembly polls ploy in occupied Kashmir.
August 14: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf vows that Pakistan will never compromise on the Kashmiris' right of self determination, and rejects polls in occupied Kashmir as a bid to legitimise India's illegal occupation. In a speech at a flag hoisting ceremony on the country's 55th Independence Day, Musharraf says referendum on Kashmiris' political destiny is the key to peace in South Asia. “The struggle for self-determination of our Kashmiri brothers is a sacred trust that can never be compromised,” he said.
August 17: Addressing a press conference after talks with APHC in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir Committee head, Ram Jethmalani said Kashmir is a disputed territory and needed immediate resolution. He says it would be foolish to claim that Kashmir is not a dispute. "The dispute exists and its resolution will bring peace to the entire South Asian region", he said
August 22: Indian Kashmir Committee sends a formal invitation to the All Parties Hurriyat Conference for talks in New Delhi. The head of the Kashmir Committee, former federal law minister Ram Jethmalani, also writes Shabbir Shah for continuation of talks to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
August 23: The All Parties Hurriyet Conference accepts an invitation for talks with Indian Kashmir Committee. "We have agreed to keep the talks going," says APHC leader Abdul Ghani Butt.
August 25: Talking to reporters in Islamabad, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says it is up to Pakistan and India to find a solution to the long-standing crisis over the disputed Kashmir. “We can offer assistance, we cannot impose a solution.”
September 02: The French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin says, the non- resolution of the Kashmir dispute between two nuclear powers harbour incalculable risks for the entire planet.
September 05: US says Kashmir is on international agenda the way it had never been before and that there is a lot of concern in the international community to resolve the issue. The Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage says this in an exclusive talk with team of editors and senior correspondents of Pakistan's national dailies visiting the US on the invitation of the State Department.
September 06: All Party Hurriyet Conference (APHC) Chairman Abdul Ghani Butt says that APHC is ready to hold talks with the Indian leadership, provided similar opportunity is provided to them to meet leaders in Pakistan.
September 07: The New Delhi Kashmir Committee supports the demand of the APHC to visit Pakistan for holding talks with Kashmiri leaders there and Pakistan government to pursue a dialogue for peace and a durable solution with Pakistani government and Kashmiri political leaders there," says a joint statement issued after a 150-minute meeting between Hurriyat Conference leaders and the Kashmir Committee in New Delhi.
September 09: APHC chairman, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt rules out any move to convert the Line of Control into international border between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan reiterates that any talks to resolve the long running Kashmir dispute has to be held at the official level between Islamabad and New Delhi and with the participation of the true representatives of Kashmiris.
September 11: The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs in the puppet regime, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone is shot dead in Lolab area of Kupwara district. Six of his security guards are also killed.
September 12: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says the international community might have a role to play in resolution of the Kashmir issue if tension between India and Pakistan flares up again. In his address before the General Assembly, Annan identifies the Kashmir issue as one of the four global problems after the Israel-Palestinian dispute, the Iraq problem, and the Afghanistan situation.
September 13: Addressing the 57th session of the UNGA, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says, the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be allowed to exercise their right to determine their own future in accordance with the relevant resolutions of UN Security Council. He said three steps are required to avoid conflict and mutual withdrawal of forward deployed forces by both sides, observance of cease-fire along the LoC in Kashmir and cessation of India's state terrorism against the Kashmiri people.
September 14: Indian National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra ticks off UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for his assessment on the situation in the Indian sub-continent, saying he does not agree with his views.
Indian security authorities term all the 3397 polling booths in the Kashmir Valley either hypersensitive or sensitive and none of them falls in the normal category.
The All Parties Hurriyet Conference spokesman rejects internal autonomy as a solution to the Kashmir problem.
September 15: Addressing Asia Society in New York President Pervez Musharraf says that he would be forced out of power if he ever dropped the stipulation that Kashmir was the core dispute governing relations with archrival India. “No leader. No government of Pakistan can ever side step on the issue of Kashmir because the people of Pakistan, including each individual, is involved.
Addressing members of the Congress from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee warns if the international community fails to persuade Pakistan to stop so-called cross-border terrorism, India would have to find its own way to achieve its objective
September 16: A one-day strike to denounce the holding of so-called election of occupied Kashmir legislature cripples life in the disputed territory and low turn out mares the first phase of elections. Voting for first phase of so-called polls begins in Baramullah, Kupwara (except in Lolab constituency), Leh, Kargil, Rajouri and Poonch districts. Complete strike is observed in occupied Kashmir. People continue their boycott of the polls, however, several incidents of coercive voting is being observed.
September 19: Speaking at the Kashmir Contact Group meeting of OIC, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq accuses the United Nations of helping in prolonging the disputes by placing greater emphasis on the reduction of tensions rather than the settlement of the core issues.
Indian Congress President, Sonia Ghandi calls for final solution to Kashmir issue and says if the Indian government is really serious about Jammu and Kashmir, which is affecting the lives of innocent people, it should do something about it now."
September 23: A total of 160 additional companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are being deployed in various districts of Jammu and Kashmir on election duty during the second phase of so-called polling on September 24. These are in addition to the 237 companies of the CRFP already stationed in occupied Kashmir.
September 24: Complete strike is observed throughout occupied Kashmir against the second phase of so-called assembly elections. Second phase of so-called poll is held in Srinagar, Budgam and Jammu districts.
President Musharraf tells reporters in Islamabad that Pakistan is also not interested in parleys if India does not want to sort out the conflicting issues in an amicable manner. He terms Indian claim of 45% turnout in held Kashmir elections, as contrary to the facts and said there is only two to ten percent turnout.
October 01: Complete protest strike is observed in occupied Kashmir against the third phase of so-called polls. The third phase of polls is held in Pulwama, Islamabad, Kathua and Udhampur. The observers term the turnout very low, as compared to the first two phases of polling.
The APHC rules out Pakistan's role in any kind of violence in Kashmir and reiterates that Kashmiris struggle is indigenous. Hurriyat Conference chairman tells Indian daily the Hindu that so-called elections would not help in resolving the Kashmir problem.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca meets Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad and calls for dialogue with India over the disputed Kashmir region.
October 08: Normal life comes to a halt on the occasion of the 4th phase of so-called state assembly elections in occupied Kashmir. The polls are taking place in six constituencies of Doda district.
October 09: At a press briefing in New York, a US state Department spokesman asks India and Pakistan to “find a way back to a dialogue” to resolve disputes in the region where prospects of a war, in which nuclear weapons could be used, looms large.
October 16: India's apex Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee decides to order a phased withdrawal of troops massed on Pakistan's borders. Announcing the cabinet decision, Indian Defence minister George Fernandes says, the armed forces would take their time to implement the process of withdrawal.
October 17: Jammu and Kashmir is put under Governor's rule after caretaker puppet Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah refuses to take charge of the regime.
October 18: Soon after the decision by India of withdrawing its troops from the borders, the US favours resumption of serious and sustained Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir and all other outstanding issues.
Welcoming the announcements made by India and Pakistan that they would normalise the deployment of troops at border areas, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges the two countries to again try to resolve their differences through dialogue.
Addressing a joint press conference along with President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Muhammad says the Kashmir issue should be resolved in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
October 23: India begins pullout of troops from along the international border with Pakistan and the whole process including de-mining operations would be completed within next two months, said Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes.
October 25: Presiding over a meeting of the Azad Kashmir Council, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says the Indian troops' pull back had vindicated Pakistan's stance that all matters between the two countries, including the Kashmir issue, could be settled through bilateral dialogue.
November 2: Mufti Mohammed Sayeed is sworn-in as the puppet chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking in a PTV programme “Visitor's Book” the Director Policy Planning US State Department, Richard Haass says, United States has no secret plan for resolution of Kashmir issue and it should be resolved among India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir.
November 7: Talking to group of journalists in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Muhammad urges the United Nations to get its resolution implemented on Kashmir in order to resolve the half a century old problem between India and Pakistan.
November 14: Two leaders of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Bashir Ahmad Butt and Shaikh Abdur Rashid are released from Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu but are re-arrested by the intelligence agencies personnel. The re-arrested leaders are being kept confined in joint interrogation cell in Jammu.
November 15: Britain says, the Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan has stemmed out of some quite serious mistakes committed by it by not demarcating the boundaries even two days after Independence of India and Pakistan from the British rule. “We made some quite serious mistakes. We were complacent with what happened in Kashmir, the boundaries were'nt published until two days after Independence. Bad story for us, the consequences are still there,” Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says in an interview to the New Statesman magazine.
November 16: Two pro-liberation organisations, National Front and Jammu-based People's Movement are inducted in the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC).
November 21: Canada offers to mediate between India and Pakistan, if the two countries are willing, to facilitate resumption of stalled dialogue between them. Speaker of the Senate Daniel Hays tells reporters in New Delhi.
November 22: Indian Kashmir Committee holds another round of inconclusive talks with pro-liberation leadership in Srinagar with its leader Ram Jethmalani ruling out the option of independence and Shabbir Shah claiming that six member delegation has accepted the disputed nature of Kashmir.
November 24: Heavily armed men storm the Raghunath temple, killing at least 15 persons, including four women and two military personnel, and injuring around 50 others.
November 26: The United States believe that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and it must be “resolved through negotiations”, between India and Pakistan keeping in view the wishes of Kashmiri people, a paper on India-US relations released says. The paper prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), said, “The longstanding US position on Jammu and Kashmir is that the whole of the former princely State is disputed territory."
November 30: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf reiterates Pakistan's principled stand on Kashmir issue and says Pakistan government will continue its political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri brethren in their ongoing freedom struggle. He states this while talking to Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minster, Sardar Sikandar Hayyat Khan in Islamabad.
December 3: Expressing concern over the continued human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, the Amnesty International, in an open letter urges the puppet Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to allow independent experts, including from United Nations, to visit the occupied Kashmir.
December 5: In their separate Eid messages, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali reaffirm political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.
December 10: The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Front, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo sets himself on fire at Red Cross Road in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar to protest against the stepped up Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir. However, the Indian police personnel manage to douse the fire and detain him in Kothibagh police station. He sustains serious burn wounds on different parts of his body.
December 16: Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarulah Khan Jamali asks India to review its intransigent attitude towards Pakistan and initiate dialogue for the resolution of all outstanding issues.
December 17: After a two-hour meeting with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca, said in Islamabad that Washington would remain committed and engaged in bringing about a Pakistan-India dialogue.
December 18: A Delhi Court awards death sentence under draconian law POTA to three Kashmiris, Muhammad Afzal, Showkat Hassan Guru and a university lecturer, Syed Abdul Rehman Gilani, falsely charged for attack on Indian parliament on December 13 last year. Showkat's wife Afshan Guru was charged with what was described as concealing the so-called plot. She is sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment. The All Parties Hurriyet Conference has strongly denounced the verdict.
December 19: Amnesty International is dismayed at the death sentences handed down to three people accused of the 13 December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. "The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment," Amnesty International said. "We oppose the death penalty unconditionally, whether it is imposed on alleged criminals or on so-called terrorists," the international human rights organisation said.
December 20: Normal life is paralysed in Kashmir Valley on Friday following a strike organised by the Human Rights Forum to protest the death sentence to three Kashmiri youth in the false case regarding Parliament attack.
December 24: Iranian President Muhammad Khatami tells reporters at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Mir Zafarulah Jamali in Islamabad, “We will do everything possible to remove tensions and to work for peace and understanding between the two sides (India and Pakistan).
December 29: US expresses hope that the New Year will usher in resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan on all contentious issues, including Kashmir." US Secretary of State Colin Powell says in an interview to the CNN.
In an interview with Indian daily the Asian Age, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri dismisses Indian stand that it would involve only elected representatives in the talks to restore peace in Kashmir. He said, “the talks need not to be exclusive and can involve all shades of opinion, in power or out of power.”
December 30: In his new year's message from the coastal state of Goa, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee reiterates India's intransigent stand that it would never give up Kashmir and calls on Pakistan to abandon what he calls its futile policy on the disputed region.