"Pakistan does not claim, and has never claimed, Kashmir as an integral part of Pakistan during past six decades" Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said here on Monday.
She was replying to a question in her weekly news briefing at the Foreign Office whether Pakistan had made a shift from its stated position or President Musharraf had offered to make unilateral concessions to India for the solution of Kashmir dispute.
She said: "Pakistan does not claim Kashmir: the Kashmir dispute is about the aspirations of Kashmiris and, according to the UN Security Council resolution, Pakistan and India are party to this dispute, and Kashmiris are essentially to decide their future."
She said that "the President had talked about a number of steps for the solution of Kashmir dispute, and he had not done it once, but has been talking about these ideas for some time now, and they are about involvement of Kashmiris, about creating an environment in which final settlement, which is acceptable to Kashmiris, to Pakistan, India and above all the people of Kashmir can take place."
The spokesperson clarified that " the President did not say what has been attributed to him, as he did not say that Pakistan would unilaterally give up its position. On the contrary, he talked about the need for flexibility by both sides, and again he has said that this cannot be unilateral."
With regard to Pakistan's legal position on Kashmir, Tasnim said that during past 60 years, Pakistan has never claimed Kashmir to be an integral part of Pakistan. "That is something for the people of Kashmir to decide."
"Our legal position is based on the UN Security Council, when we talk about settlement of the Kashmir dispute on the basis of the an agreement --a solution that is acceptable to Pakistan and India, and above all, which is in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people," she added.
She said that 'Kashmir baney ga Pakistan' "is the slogan of Kashmiri people, and we want, and hope, that they would join Pakistan." However, she said that Article 257 of the Constitution stipulates 'when the people of Jammu and Kashmir decide to accede to Pakistan, the relationship between Pakistan and Kashmir shall be determined in accordance with the wishes Kashmiri people'.
She said that Pakistan would respect the wishes of the Kashmiris and no solution of the Kashmir problem was possible without fulfilling the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. "Whatsoever is the final settlement, that would become the new position of Pakistan and India," she added.
She said that Afghanistan was expected to hand over its proposals to Pakistan Embassy in Kabul on Monday after which further discussions would be held for holding the Tribal Jirgas to normalise situation in Afghanistan. She said that the two foreign ministers also discussed bilateral relations, exchange of prisoners, trade and all aspects of the bilateral relationship.
In reply to a question regarding report of the International Crisis Group on Afghanistan, the spokesperson said that the ICG has one particular way of look at things. However, she emphasised that the UN Security Council report on Afghanistan was more authentic and reliable which underlines the factors of present situation in Afghanistan. She said that even the recent report of IASF (Nato forces) in Afghanistan has admitted that violence in that country has come down.