Gillani sees solution of Kashmir issue only in UN resolutions

Chief of his own faction of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Ali Gillani has asked the Pakistani nation not to pull back from its national stance on Kashmir issue and the demand for implementation of UN resolutions for solution of Kashmir problem must be pursued. While speaking at a telephonic press conference from Srinagar on Tuesday, he said no progress has been made on Kashmir front during eras of Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and General Musharraf.
He was of the view that India was sticking to its stance, maintaining its occupation of the Valley by force and refusing to resolve the issue in anyway. Therefore, it was totally wrong to assert that any progress has been made in that respect, he said.
He was of the view that only solution to the problem was seeking recourse to the UN resolutions. About the options given by General Musharraf and the proposals Mirwaiz group reportedly carried to Islamabad, he said all those steps were one sided, failing to extract a positive response from India.
The only roadmap to settle the conflict, he said was exerting pressure on New Delhi to allow Kashmiris decide their own future as it was the only way out that could guarantee geographical integrity of Jammu and Kashmir. He made it clear that by abandoning UN resolutions, the issue would lose its grounds.
When asked to comment on the results of the confidence building measures (CBMs) taken by Pakistan and India, he said he told president Musharraf and PM Shaukat Aziz during their visits to New Delhi that CBMs could not provide any relief to the Kashmiris facing the worst Indian atrocities.
Commenting on impact of visit of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led faction of the APHC to Pakistan, he said it was an attempt to legitimise the grouping and its views on the issue. However, the visit failed to make any impact on the Kashmiris because ground realities had not changed, he added.
When asked if America and Britain were taking interest in resolving the conflict between the two nuclear neighbours, he said big powers could help settle the issue but as those had their own political and economic interests those were not coming up to the expectations of Kashmiri people.