Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said that peace and stability in South Asia would remain elusive until the Kashmir dispute was resolved in accordance with international law and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

He expressed these views during a meeting with the leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at Capitol Hill. Republican Senator Jim Risch and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the Foreign Minister to the Capitol.

Senators Risch and Menendez were joined by Senator Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Asia, and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, Ranking Member of the Asia Subcommittee.

The Foreign Minister briefed the Senators on India's brutal lock-down in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and its implications for regional security.

Both sides shared their perspectives on the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, the situation in South Asia, the Afghan peace process, and recent developments in the Middle East, a foreign office statement issued here said.

The Committee members appreciated Pakistan's role in the Afghan peace process and requested Pakistan's continued support. The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan was committed to the political reconciliation process in Afghanistan.