Kashmir: Toward the Final Round

Four conferences in the past four months have failed to get India and Pakistan any closer to a settlement of their bitter dispute over control of Kashmir. Last week in Karachi, the fifth round of talks again ended in stalemate as India once more stubbornly rejected Pakistan’s claim to the rich Vale of Kashmir. Un willing to bear responsibility for breaking off the talks, Pakistan reluctantly agreed to another meeting later this month in New Delhi. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, due in Karachi for a meeting of the CENTO nations, would be taking time out to urge a Kashmir settlement on the Pakistanis. Lest he appear partial, Rusk would also carry his appeal to New Delhi this week, where he is due to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Nehru.

But time was running out. Said chief Pakistani Negotiator Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: “We have told India that the sixth round will be the final round.”