Friday, April 22 2005 20:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Leaders from both India and Pakistan will have to "push" the peace process because the people's force is behind it, President Pervez Musharraf has said.

"The people have overtaken the Governments and the leaders, the people have got involved and they show a desire and wish that peace and harmony prevail in the subcontinent.

"And therefore, I see it as irreversible, all leaders will have to push it forward because the people's force is behind it," the Pakistani President said in Manila, according to a release of the CNN TV network.

Giving his views on the future of Kashmiri people and bridging the divide, Musharraf, who flew to Manila after holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi earlier this week, said, "Geographically, you have Kashmir on our side and on the India side, which can be divided into seven regions.

"We need to identify, agree on a region and demilitarise that identified region and then change its status, so all this can be resolved if there are no forces and there is no terrorism, or freedom struggle and the people of Kashmir themselves look after their own security," he said.

On nuclear proliferation, Musharraf said, "Now the issue related to proliferation is very clear to all Governments, a State is not involved (and) an individual is involved and that is Dr A Q Khan". He observed, "Having said that now there is an issue with Iran, Iran's nuclear development capabilities, what has come about is that there is contamination located in Iran and they want to trace the sources of this contamination. So the issue is not with Pakistan, the investigation is going on with Iran on whether they are enriching uranium."