India's deputy prime minister said Tuesday agreement was in sight on resolving one of India's most explosive religious disputes over construction of a Hindu temple on the ruins of a razed mosque.
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, on a cross-country campaign trek for national elections due this month, said in the northern temple-studded town of Ayodha where the destroyed 16th-century mosque is located "some quiet progress" had already been made in settling the row.
He said he was confident agreement could be reached soon between Hindu and Muslim leaders to decide the future of the site where Hindu zealots destroyed in 1992 the Babri mosque, triggering nation-wide riots in which at least 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, died.
Many Hindus believe the mosque was built atop the birthplace, long before recorded time, of the god-king Ram and want a new temple built in its place to honour him. They say a temple originally stood on the mosque site.
The dispute has become a major flash-point between India's majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities.
"A negotiated settlement will be the most desirable to resolve the Ayodhya issue," said Advani, 76, who was present on the day when a frenzied Hindu mob demolished the mosque and was only recently cleared of conspiracy charges.
"We've already made some quiet progress and we will be able to reach an agreement involving Hindu and Muslim representatives shortly after a new government is in place," he told reporters.
Advani made the statement on the 24th anniversary of the founding of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) which is expected to return to power at the head of a coalition government.