Prince tells Obama to fix Kashmir
Agencies
Riyadh, Oct 14: In what is being seen here as a disturbing indication of Indian diplomacy falling short of expectations in the Middle-East, one of Saudi Arabia’s most powerful and influential royal family members Turki al-Faisal has openly urged US President Barack Obama to push India and Pakistan to fix the Kashmir issue for his AfPak policy to make any progress.
Saudi Arabia, he says, can play a supporting role.

Turki al-Faisal, head of Saudi intelligence for 24 years from 1977 to 2001 and who has served as Ambassador to US and UK, proposed a seven-point action plan for Obama to achieve progress in Afghanistan. This was spelled out in an article he wrote in the International Herald Tribune last Saturday.
The fifth point of this action plan is to “push India and Pakistan to fix Kashmir.”
“That is doable,” he wrote, “once both countries see a determined effort by the United States in that direction. Both countries are beholden to the United States: Pakistan for the military and financial support it receives and India for the atomic energy agreement it has signed with the United States. Saudi Arabia can play a supporting role.”
In Prince Turki al-Faisal’s scheme of things, Kashmir has to be integrated with the AfPak strategy to serve the larger purpose of helping Pakistan and Afghanistan settle their borders.
“When Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari see resolution in Obama’s demands for benchmarks and for settling the border dispute between their countries, they will adhere. When India and Pakistan feel the strength of the American push on Kashmir, they will come along,” he wrote.
His other suggestions include an effort to “fix the Durand Line” between Pakistan and Afghanistan; change the “media theme from attacking Taliban and calling them terrorists to concentrate on Al Qaeda and foreign terrorists”.
Prince Turki’s stint as head of Saudi intelligence saw him preside over the massive operation to mobilize the mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
He is considered among the most influential members of the royal family and so his comments do have an official weight.