Kashmir issue be resolved according to UN resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiris: PM Gilani

ASSOCIATED PRESS SERVICE

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Pakistan wants resolution of Kashmir issue according to the UN resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiris.
“Our point of view is very, very clear,” he said in an interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s programme “Devil’s Advocate” released by Press Trust of India on Saturday evening.
The Kashmir issue would be discussed when India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Islamabad on May 21, he said.
“Yes there are a few core issues which we want to resolve. At the same time, we want to maintain excellent and extremely good relations with our neighbours,” the Prime Minister said in response to a question.
He further said the proposals discussed with India in the recent years to resolve the Kashmir issue were “half baked things that didn’t have the mandate of Parliament”.
The core issue of Kashmir must be settled in line with UN resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, he said, adding that at the same time there should be a rethink about the issue.
He said now the new government had taken over in Pakistan. “We have a government that has a prime minister who was unanimously elected. We have the support of all the political forces in the country,” he said.
“Therefore I think (the Kashmir issue) needs to be debated, there should be a rethink about it and may be the parliament thinks the same.”
Gilani referred to the Kashmir dispute as the “core issue” in bilateral relations.
He opposed four-point proposal for a solution on the basis of self-governance and joint management of Kashmir. “Actually that was the President’s idea. This is not the idea of the newly elected government,” he said, adding the Kashmir issue has to be resolved “for stable relations”. The process to resolve the Kashmir issue, he emphasized, must start from the UN resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
When asked that such an approach could disappoint India as it amounted to turning the clock back, Gilani replied: “This is not exactly what you think about it. It is that the people of Pakistan, who have given the mandate to the new government ...There is a tremendous feeling that we want to resolve the Kashmir issue. Maybe, the procedures and modalities are different.”
Asked specifically if respecting the aspirations of the Kashmiri people would tantamount to giving them the power to veto any decision made by India and Pakistan on Kashmir, Gilani replied in the negative.”That means they should be on board and we should respect their point of view.”
The ruling coalition led by the Pakistan People’s Party, Gilani said, would take the other political forces into confidence because this government is a broad-based government. “It’s a coalition of several parties and we have to take everybody on board.”
He made it clear that the way forward would be not to forget Kashmir but to build trust and confidence to create a facilitating environment to resolve the issue. “That would be a conducive environment. We will have confidence-building and we can come closer.”
The Prime Minister mentioned PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s contention that trust and confidence could be built through people-to-people contacts as well as trade, commercial and cultural ties as the two countries “share a lot of commonalities” He pointed to trade in cement and food items as an area where the two sides could make a beginning. He also noted that they were cooperating in the energy sector through the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.
Asked if he agreed with Zardari’s stand that the Kashmir issue should not stop progress in other spheres of bilateral relations, Gilani replied: “To that extent, I agree. To that extent, if it (Kashmir issue) is not forgotten.”
Replying to a question on Sarabjit Singh, who was sentenced to death by superior courts in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said personally he believes that he should be pardoned and has advised President Pervez Musharraf to review his case.
“I have advised the President that he should stop (Sarabjit’s) execution and it should be reviewed by the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, law and justice and human rights.”
The Prime Minister added this was the reason why Sarabjit’s execution was put off recently.
Replying to a question about possible pardon, he said the ministries would consider whether the case “is fit or whether the case is not fit and they willtake a decision.”