Kashmir solution key to peace: PM

By Ahmad Hassan

ISLAMABAD, June 2: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday that resolution of the Kashmir dispute was key to durable peace in South Asia.




Speaking at a session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, he said Pakistan remained committed to finding a just settlement of the dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the people of occupied Kashmir.




He stressed the need for resolving the issue through sincere dialogue in order to open up vast opportunities for socio-economic development of the region.




The prime minister said Pakistan continued to extend political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination which "needs to be associated with the dialogue process".




"Pakistan will like to engage in constructive and purposeful dialogue with India to resolve the issue," he said.




He said Pakistan had been constructively engaged with India under the composite dialogue process to discuss issues related to Jammu and Kashmir and through confidence-building measures between the two countries.




The prime minister regretted that India halted the dialogue process after the Mumbai incident, while Pakistan stressed the need for its resumption.




"We have impressed upon India that focus of the efforts of the two countries should remain on countering terrorism, which is the real issue, and not mutual recrimination."




He said: "We hope that the Indian occupation forces will cease human rights abuses, violence will come to an end and a conducive atmosphere will be created for final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute."




He said the people of Kashmir had been promised the right to decide about their destiny, which was embodied in resolutions adopted by the United Nations during the late 1940s and '50s.




Mr Gilani urged the international community to redeem its promise with the Kashmiri people.




He mentioned the indigenous uprising in occupied Kashmir ignited by the Amarnath shrine land issue last year that added another sad chapter to the sufferings of the people.




"The parliament of Pakistan has passed resolutions expressing solidarity of the people of Pakistan with their Kashmiri brethren," he said.




The council adopted three bills: the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council Public Service Commission (Adaptation and Validation) (Amendment) Act 2009; the Trade Organisations Ordinance (Adaptation and Extension of Functions to Azad Jammu and Kashmir) (Amendment) Act 2009; and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council Universal Service Fund and Research and Development Fund (Validation of Rules) Act 2009.




It also approved a motion to grant taxation and fiscal concessions to AJK's hydropower projects as agreed by the government of Pakistan with the sponsors and another to seek permission to sponsor four employees of the AJK Council to perform Haj.




It deferred a motion on recommendations of a committee which had been formed to review the resource distribution formula between the council and the AJK government.




The council prayed for those who had laid down their lives in the struggle for freedom in occupied Kashmir and the armymen who had died in the war against terrorism.