Kashmir on agenda: Salman Bashir

NISAR AHMED THOKAR

Islamabad, June 15: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Wednesday assured Kashmiri leaders that Pakistan would take up the Kashmir issue effectively and discuss it in a purposeful manner in the forthcoming secretary-level dialogue with India.

Bashir made these remarks while talking to a delegation of Kashmiri leaders comprising of APHC (M) convener Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, APHC (G) convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Syed Yousuf Naseem, Sheikh Yaqoob, Manzoor-ul-Haq Bhat, Dr. Abdul Aala, Mir Tahir Masood, Majeed Malik, JKLF leader Rafique Ahmed Dar and others.

In a bid to take Kashmiri representatives into confidence, the Foreign Secretary held consultations with the Kashmiri leaders and sought their opinion vis-à-vis Indo-Pak secretary-level talks scheduled to be held at the end of this month.

According to a Foreign Office statement, “In-depth consultations on all aspects of the Jammu and Kashmir issue were held with a consensus that Jammu and Kashmir is the core issue. It was stressed to address the issue effectively and in a purposeful manner during the forthcoming dialogue with India.”

Talking to Greater Kashmir, JKLF leader Rafique Ahmed Dar said that Salman Bashir reiterated his country’s desire to resolve the Kashmir dispute in line with the UN resolutions and as per the Kashmiris’ aspirations. He quoted the Foreign Secretary as saying that Pakistan fully supports inclusion of Kashmiris’ genuine representatives in the talks process.

He said that Kashmiri delegates while giving an insight of the prevailing political situation in Kashmir stressed the need for bringing an end to the human rights violations in the valley. He said that Kashmiri leaders made it clear that bilateralism had miserably failed to bring about solution to the festering dispute and emphasized that Kashmiris’ representatives should be made part of the dialogue process to make it a result-oriented exercise.

Regarding CBMs, Dar said that Kashmiri delegates suggested some Kashmir-centric steps which, he said, were important to create a conducive atmosphere for talks.