Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri on Monday urged opposition parties to rise above differences with the government on domestic issues while safeguarding vital national interests such as Kashmir. Addressing a seminar here, he said the opposition has the right to differ with the government's policies but the issue of Kashmir was above politics and was a national issue in which it has a definite role.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, AJK president Major General Sardar Anwar Khan (Retd), Sardar Abdul Qayyum and other political leaders and analysts also addressed the seminar.
Kasuri said that all past governments had supported a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute in line with the wishes of the Kashmiri people. He said the two countries have fought wars over the dispute but there was now a realisation that the issue could not be solved through the use of force and the only way was to resolve it through peaceful negotiations.
"It is imperative that disputes between Pakistan and India are resolved peacefully and on the basis of justice and equality," he said.
He said we were looking for solutions, which can ensure peace and stability in the region, justice for the people of Kashmir and a secure future for the people of South Asia.
The foreign minister, however, made it clear that for any lasting solution and peace in the region, any resolution of the dispute had to be acceptable to the Kashmiri people.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that only that solution of Kashmir issue will be workable that is in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people.
"Erection of fence along the Line of Control can never fade away the struggle of Kashmiris," he said.
He said no move to achieve lasting peace in the region could succeed lest the issue of Kashmir is resolved.
Appreciating holding of the seminar, he said, the government sincerely welcomes such debates and conferences where the issue of Kashmir be discussed threadbare to reach some solid conclusion.
He said President General Pervez Musharraf had given food for thought to ponder on some workable suggestions for Kashmir issue and holding such forums would help achieve the goal in this direction. He dispelled the impression that people of Kashmir were ignorant about their rights and said "they have rendered countless sacrifices and they know what is right and what is wrong and nobody could defy them."
The minister said that leadership of Hurriyat Conference was visiting Pakistan and it was the desire that they should come without visa and passport as had been the practice in the past.
Later, talking to newsmen, the minister said India should seriously consider Pakistan's proposals.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman in his remarks said that the people of Kashmir should have the right to decide what they want.
He said Kashmir was a national issue and all have a consensus that it should be resolved in line with the wishes of the Kashmiri people in accordance with the UN resolutions.
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