US proposes hi-tech monitoring in Kashmir

Donald Rumsfeld struggled to nudge along the fledgling Indo-Pakistani peace process yesterday through a day of meetings with senior Indian leaders.

And he offered a hi-tech answer to the conundrum that has baffled all would-be peacemakers so far: how to check infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir without involving foreign troops, who would make international an issue India insists is bilateral. The American Defence Secretary suggested the deployment of technologically advanced ground sensors along the LoC to detect movements across it.

He also claimed some of the so-called war on terrorism's principal quarry might be active in Kashmir. "I have seen indications that the al-Qa'ida is operating in areas near the Line of Control," he said.

The idea of deploying an international force along the LoC was apparently first proposed by Jack Straw during his visit to the region last month, though that has been officially denied. At the weekend Richard Armitage, America's deputy secretary of state, dismissed the idea as "far-fetched", but yesterday Mr Rumsfeld, when asked after his meeting with George Fernandes, the Indian Defence Minister, whether it had been discussed, said: "That subject did come up."

In an interview with The Independent this week, Lal Krishna Advani, India's hawkish Home Minister, said he would be happy to see foreign monitors deployed, as long as they were confined to the Pakistani side. But the view within the Indian government appears to be negative.

Mr Rumsfeld's idea of using sensors would go some way to addressing the glaring problem with joint patrols: that the two sides profoundly distrust each other.

Much of India's problem with Pakistan, said one Indian official, speaking anonymously, "has been about a clash of perceptions which later serves as an excuse to start a conflict. If we are able to develop a common perspective on where the LoC passes through, certain fundamental differences could be resolved straight away."

There was no immediate response from the Indian side to Mr Rumsfeld's new idea. But Mr Fernandes said: "The discussions we had and the understandings reached bring their fruit and will help us in creating a better atmosphere in the sub-continent."

Mr Rumsfeld said the moves India had made to ease tension – restoring the right of Pakistani airlines to fly over India and sending warships home to base – were constructive. "I must say the leadership in India has demonstrated its concern and interest in seeing that things are resolved in an appropriate way," he added.

The response from Islamabad was sceptical. "In a situation where Indian forces are massed on Pakistan's borders ... the Indian decisions do not address the main causes of tension," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said.

And during a visit to Saudi Arabia, General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's President, added: "The situation will remain grim until we disengage on the borders."

Analysts in Delhi believe any big cut in the number of Indian troops on alert is unlikely until after state elections in Indian-administered Kashmir in September.