Kashmiris won’t be ignored

NEW DELHI (Agencies) - Ahead of the Indo-Pak foreign ministers meeting set for Wednesday, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar met both the factions of Hurriyat Conference factions and assured them of Pakistan’s support in their just struggle for Kashmir.
APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader Syed Ali Geelani, senior APHC leaders Professor Abdul Ghani Buttt, Aga Syed AlMoosvi and Bilal Ghani Lone called on her at the Pakistan High Commission here.
Syed Ali Geelani after the meeting told reporters that he has raised the Kashmir issue with the minister, adding that the people of Kashmir appreciated the moral, political and diplomatic support given by Pakistan to the Kashmiri people.
“Unless the Indian Army leaves the occupied Kashmir, all the detenues were released, and the Indian government accepted the disputed nature of Held Kashmir, no efforts for peace would be successful,” Gilani added.
When asked what was the response of the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Gilani said Ms Khar assured him that Kashmiris won’t be ignored in her talks and Pakistan would not compromise on “anything that was against the cause of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.”
APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said “we support the dialogue between the two countries... Kashmir issue has to be addressed in accordance with the wishes and aspiration of the people of Kashmir. It is important and imperative for the Kashmir leadership to be part of the discourse”.
He said “we are happy about the meeting and we hope that they can take the process forward and that they will see to it that the road to peace, the road to development, the road to a better and brighter future in South Asia leads through Kashmir.”
The Hurriyet leaders sought Islamabad’s intervention for release of Ghulam Nabi Fai arrested in US for being a front of ISI. Calling the arrest unfair, they said Fai represented the voice of Kashmiris and “it is not illegal to speak for Kashmiris”. Mirwaiz said Fai’s arrest was “unwanted that won’t do any good, but will vitiate the peace process”.
Earlier on arrival at Delhi Airport, Hina said “This is my first trip to India and New Delhi as the foreign minister of Pakistan. I bring the good wishes of the people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan,” Khar told reporters at the airport.
“I hope that these two countries have learnt lessons from history, but are not burdened by them,” she said in a carefully worded message that sought to reinforce the goodwill the exchanges so far had generated.
“I hope we can move forward as good, friendly neighbours who have stake in each other’s future. Both the countries understand their responsibilities to the region and within the region,” she said.
Meanwhile, India and Pakistan set a positive tone to their revived dialogue as their foreign secretaries firmed up cross-Kashmir confidence-building measures that will be unveiled by the foreign ministers of the two countries Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir had “very cordial and positive discussions,” Vishnu Prakash, the spokesperson of the Indian External Affairs Ministry, told reporters. “They reviewed the progress in talks between different ministries and organisations, of the two countries in the preceding months,” he said.
The two officials will brief their respective ministers of their discussions ahead of the Krishna-Khar meeting, he said.
The CBMs could include an increase in the frequency of cross-Kashmir bus links between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad and Poonch and Rawalakot, an increase in the number of trading days across the Line of Control (LoC) from two to four, and opening of more trading points. The two sides may also announce the release on humanitarian grounds of prisoners in each other’s custody.
Staff reporter from Lahore adds: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday expressed her optimism that upcoming minister-level dialogue with India would yield positive results.
“The dialogue would achieve a breakthrough,” she said while talking to the media at Lahore airport before her departure for New Delhi to take part in the July 27 Pak-India ministerial meetings.
The foreign minister said all outstanding issues including Kashmir-related confidence building measures would be discussed during the meeting with her Indian counterpart SM Krishna. She believed that the engagement at ministers’ level would augur well and resolve problems in both countries.
Responding to a question, she said history should not be a burden but a motivator and “we should pin hopes on the future outcome”. She said bilateral dialogue is being held on equal footing and all longstanding issues including Kashmir will be taken up during the dialogue.
The minister said Pakistan believed in the resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the aspirations of Kashmiris and in the light of UN resolutions, adding that Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir issue was quite clear to the world.
She said Pakistan and India both wanted durable peace in the region which was vital for development and prosperity in both neighbouring nations.
The foreign minister said that the dialogue process had resumed between the two countries after its suspension in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, adding both countries were committed to result-oriented dialogue.