Krishna tells Pakistan to vacate PoK before lecturing India

The prospects of resumption of peace talks between India and Pakistan looks dim with external affairs minister S M Krishna asking Islamabad to end its illegal occupation of some parts of the state before advising New Delhi on Kashmir.



"Kashmir is an internal matter of India," said Mr Krishna, who is in the United States on a 10-day visit to attend the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York.



Mr Krishna's remarks came on a day in which Islamabad asserted that there can be no result-oriented discussions with India on the Kashmir dispute unless New Delhi stopped treating it as the country's integral part and seeking a solution within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. This is a position which has been rejected time and again by India.



Pointing out that Pakistan was in "illegal occupation of some parts of Jammu and Kashmir," Mr Krishna said, "it is desirable that they vacate that and then start advising India as to how to go about doing things in Kashmir."



"We have taken certain actions in terms of assisting what needs to be done in Kashmir... An all-party delegation has just gone back to Delhi and they have had wide-ranging discussions across the board from all shades of opinion," the external affairs told a news channel in New York.



"So, Government of India is fully conscious of its responsibilities... institutional mechanism and individual mechanism will be put in place so that the genuine grievances of Kashmir and the people of Kashmir are addressed squarely and directly," he said.

Pakistan, in the meanwhile, has ratcheted up its anti-India campaign. "Unless India takes a fresh look at its Kashmir policy, does some introspection and stops treating Jammu and Kashmir as its integral part and stops harping on seeking a solution within the Indian Constitution, we do not believe that we can really have any meaningful or result-oriented discussions with India on this (issue),''



Mr Basit told newspersons in Islamabad on Thursday. He was responding to a question on the Indian government's efforts to address the protests in Jammu and Kashmir by sending a delegation of political leaders to meet Kashmiri leaders. He noted that the Hurriyat Conference had already rejected the move.



He also described as "self-serving" India's rejection of resolutions passed by both houses of the Pakistani Parliament condemning the violence in Jammu and Kashmir and calling on the international community to ensure the implementation of UN resolutions on Kashmir.



Jammu and Kashmir is an international issue and subject of several UN resolutions. The Senate and National Assembly resolutions of September 20 reflect the concerns of the people of Pakistan on the gross and systematic violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people by Indian security forces, he said.



Mr Basit noted that the UN Secretary General had called for an end to the violence, while the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Amnesty International had asked India to end the violence and protect the rights of people.



``Pakistan is committed to finding a just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and will continue extending its moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris in their legitimate struggle against Indian occupation,'' he said.

(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)


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