ISLAMABAD – President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday vowed not to comprise Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir, saying India had to give up the disputed region through negotiations. Addressing a convention at President House’s in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day, Zardari reiterated that Pakistan was ready to talk to India on all issues, including Kashmir dispute, but the negotiations would not go ahead without permission of Kashmiris.
“Kashmiris will be victorious one day,” he remarked. He said Pakistan wanted friendship with all the neighbours but the ties should be based on equality and principles, adding that the Kashmir issue would be settled with India on the table as use of violence was reflective of a defeatist mindset. “Strength and victory of Kashmiris lie in a democratic way and dialogue,” he remarked. He recalled that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded Pakistan People’s Party after a disagreement with Ayub Khan on the Kashmir issue.
He reiterated that Pakistan’ would continue to extend all political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris, saying, “The ongoing struggle in Kashmir is spontaneous, indigenous and non-violent.” President Zardari said the international community had yet to restore to the Kashmiris their rights, recognised through the UN Security Council’s resolutions. He said Kashmiris had struggled for long to achieve their right of self-determination. “The greater the suppression, the greater has been the desire for freedom. Indeed this desire has grown stronger with time,” the president added.
“Pakistan firmly believes that dialogue is the only way forward,” he said, adding, “We have stressed the need for engagement and resumption of the composite dialogue”. He said Pakistan believed that any resolution of the Kashmir issue must be centred on the Kashmiris themselves and they alone were the arbiters of their destiny. Meanwhile, Gilani said India could not stop the rising dawn of freedom in Kashmir.
He was speaking at a dinner he hosted in honour of the Kashmiri leaders at the PM’s House. Besides President Zardari, the AJK prime minister, Kashmiri leaders and others attended the event. Prime Minister Gilani regretted that at the time of the division of Indo-Pak sub-continent, the Kashmiris’ accession to Pakistan was disallowed through a conspiracy.
He further deplored that Indian leadership had also been ignoring the resolutions of the United Nations, under which the Kashmiris were promised a plebiscite to choose their future.
