Islamabad: Asserting that India and Pakistan have to step back from their "maximalist" approach on Kashmir, President Pervez Musharraf has said that the leaders of the two countries should be "bold enough" to strike a decision on the issue as extremists are on both sides.

"On the Kashmir dispute, we are all on the maximalist approach...If we stick to that maximalist approach there will be no solution. So, therefore, each one of us has to step back on the maximalist approach," Musharraf, who is on an official visit to Sweden, said in Stockholm.

"If we want to resolve disputes and the Kashmir dispute, first of all we need to be sincere about it and not have any strategy other than pure sincerity to resolve the disputes.

"Secondly, we have to be flexible from our maximalist positions and thirdly, we have to be bold because extremists are on both sides of the divide. The leaders have to be bold enough to strike a decision," he said in an address at the Stockholm Institute of Economics yesterday (Jul 5, 2004).

Expressing his happiness over the Indian Government's decision to continue with the peace process, Musharraf said that he has spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "So let us hope for the best", he was quoted as saying by State-run PTV.

Maintaining that Kashmir issue can't be ignored as it is a "fundamental issue" between the two countries, Musharraf said the two countries currently follow a "two track" approach to resolve the disputes and bring down tensions by initiating confidence building measures (CBMs) and continuing with the dialogue process.

"The dialogue process and CBMs, our view is that these two track have inter-relationship. They must move in tandem. You cannot move on CBMs forward while you do not go forward on dialogue process addressing issues and disputes.

"That is not practicable it is not realistic. It is not doable. Therefore both the CBMs and all the elements of it and the dialogue process addressing all issues including Kashmir must move in tandem. We hope they do," he said.

Dwelling on the four-point approach proposed by him during the 2001 Agra summit, he said, "I do not think there could be any fairer or sensible approach than this. That is what Pakistan desires and we will try our best to achieve success."

The four-point approach included the two countries beginning talks to resolve the disputes, accept "reality" of Kashmir, which needs to be resolved, and thirdly, eliminate the solutions that that are not acceptable to India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir and fourthly clinch a solution that is acceptable to all.

Describing India and Pakistan as two elephants fighting, he said, "One leader of small country said that when elephants fight the grass gets trampled. So we are trampling the grass around us, unfortunately. We must not do that."