Islamabad, Pakistan — Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, met Tuesday with a delegation of U.S. senators and outlined a proposal for improving relations with India that could "change the history of his country," said delegation leader Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
"This speech has the possibility of being transformational," Lieberman, D-Conn., said at a news conference, injecting a note of optimism into a tense military buildup by two nuclear-armed nations.
Musharraf will present the proposals in a nationwide television address in the next few days. Lieberman, speaking at a news conference, did not disclose the measures Musharraf plans to announce. But he and other senators indicated that the Pakistani president intends to do more than merely broaden his crackdown on the Islamic extremist groups that India blames for recent terrorist attacks.
Musharraf, eager to head off a war with India, apparently will propose a political solution for the long-festering dispute over Kashmir, a region that both India and Pakistan claim. They have fought two wars about Kashmir since their independence from Britain in 1947.
He also apparently will lay out plans for transforming Pakistan from an economic backwater and haven for Islamic extremists into what Lieberman described as a "modern and moderate" nation that could serve as a model for the Muslim world.
Lieberman said he hoped Musharraf's proposals would be "so bold and principled and fresh that they will encourage a response from the Indian government."
India in recent weeks has deployed missiles, tanks, heavy artillery and hundreds of thousands of troops to the 1,200-mile border it shares with Pakistan, threatening war in retaliation for terrorist attacks.
The latest major terrorist incident occurred on Dec. 13, when 14 people, including five assailants, were killed during an attack on India's Parliament.
Many Pakistanis suspect that India itself staged the attack to create an excuse to launch a war against Pakistan.
Pakistan's government has denounced the Parliament attack, and Musharraf has repeatedly condemned terrorism.
But Musharraf has said that Pakistan will continue to provide political and moral support to the "freedom struggle" against Indian rule in the two-thirds of Kashmir that India controls.
The Indian government has been suspicious of Musharraf's sincerity. As recently as Monday, Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said India was not ready for negotiations because it was not convinced that Pakistan's government has ended its support of the extremist groups India blames for the attack.
Rising tension along the border has resulted in daily exchanges of mortar and machine-gun fire and an increasing number of casualties. Tens of thousands of residents on both sides have fled.
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