Even after six and a half decades of creation of Pakistan, Kashmir continues to be a bone of contention between to arch rivals – India and Pakistan. The entire world, including the UN and India, recogonises the fact that Kashmir is a disputed territory. The fact of the matter is that not only the improvement in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan but also political and economic stability in the region greatly depends on the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Plebiscite is the only and perhaps the best way to resolve this long-pending problem. Pakistan has been urging India, the United Nations and the world powers matter to bring an end to this grave problem; a problem that has played and continues to play a damaging role in deteriorarting India-Pakistan bilateral relations and causing instability in the region.
Pakistan sincerely desires to see lasting peace in the region. In 1998 too, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif took initiatives to resolve the issue of Kashmir through bilateral negotiations. He is once again making sincere efforts to bring India to the negotiating table and resolve the Kashmir issue bilaterally.
Unambiguously, establishment of peace in the region and improvement in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan largely depend on peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
M FAZAL ELAHI
Islamabad