Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam has said that India's position on Kashmir issue is not legally tenable and Pakistan has a legal, moral and political edge on the longstanding dispute.
Talking to PTV on Tuesday night, the spokeswoman said Kashmir is Pakistan's jugular vein and Pakistan's legal position is based on United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The spokesperson said the resolutions say that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and the issue should be resolved according to the aspirations of Kashmiri people. "India has backtracked and its present stand is not legally tenable," she added. She said India had illegally occupied Kashmir by sending in its troops to the state in 1947 denying Kashmiris the right to self-determination.
Pakistan has a strong moral, political and legal case, while India retreated from its position after accepting the UN Security Council resolutions, she added.
Tasneem Aslam said Pakistanis have an emotional affinity with Kashmiris. They have a legitimate expectation that when a plebiscite will be held Kashmiris will opt to become part of Pakistan.
"Pakistan holds that Kashmir is more than a territorial dispute and the issue should be resolved according to aspirations of Kashmiris," she said. She said Pakistan after the independence has throughout maintained a consistent stand.
Every country except India accepts Kashmir as a disputed territory. Pakistan and United Nations in their maps show it as a disputed territory, she added.
She said President Musharraf has repeatedly said that both India and Pakistan have to show flexibility on Kashmir so that they could move ahead on other issues. "When the President talks of flexibility, he talks of flexibility from both sides," she explained.
The President had not said at any stage that Pakistan was forsaking the UN resolutions or making unilateral concessions. The ideas floated by the President were meant to create a conducive environment for dialogue, she said adding the ideas had generated discussion and gave hope of a solution to the Kashmiris and the international community had welcomed the suggestions. Now the international community is looking towards India to show flexibility, she added.
The spokeswoman said Kashmir is a core dispute, which needs to be resolved. Without its resolution there could be no normalisation of relations. To a question, Tasneem Aslam said the right of self-determination is a legal right recognised by UN charter and international law. This allows people to resist any illegal foreign occupation.
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