PAKISTAN President Asif Ali Zardari was at the centre of a political storm yesterday after turning decades-old policy over disputed Kashmir on its head and declaring its Islamic "freedom fighters" to be "terrorists".
The statement by Mr Zardari has sent shockwaves through Pakistan's political elite and is believed to be causing consternation among senior ranks in the 600,000-strong army, which maintains freedom for Indian-administered Kashmir as one of its most hallowed aims.
Indian authorities in Kashmir at the weekend imposed an indefinite curfew ahead of expected mass demonstrations demanding India's expulsion from the territory. In the past two months, Kashmir has seen some of the biggest pro-separatist demonstrations since the uprising against New Delhi's rule began in 1989.
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It's a bombshell dropped by the Pakistani President, one that has been welcomed in India, shocked many in Pakistan, and been condemned in kashmir.
In an interview to the Wall Street Journal President Asif Ali Zardari called the militant groups operating in Kashmir "terrorists".
He also said, "India has never been a threat to Pakistan. I, for one, and our democratic government is not scared of Indian influence abroad."
Zardari's statement certainly is a departure from Pakistani policy that calls Kashmir the core issue with India and which calls the insurgency backed by the Pakistan's ISI, rightful jehad. It's a departure many in his country lashed out at.
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The two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours have fought three wars over Kashmir, a territory once described by former US president Bill Clinton as "the most dangerous place in the world" because of its potential to cause a nuclear conflagration. About 50,000 people are believed to have been killed in fighting in Kashmir since 1989.
India has welcomed Mr Zardari's tough stand on Kashmir.
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