SRINAGAR: In a clear rebuff to Mirwaiz Umer Farooq led Hurriyat Conference Pakistani envoy to the United Nations today said the Kashmir issue with India has to be settled by the two countries.
Mirwaiz upon his return from Pakistan told reporters that the visit was a successful one, stating that biggest achievement of the amalgams Islamabad trip was that Pakistan has agreed that there will be no bilateral agreement on Kashmir with India.
I am quite satisfied with the visit as Islamabad has agreed to accept Kashmir issue as a trilateral one. This is what we wanted. Now the entire onus lies on India. The ball is in New Delhis court now, he had said.
But on Thursday Pakistans Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan reaffirmed that Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally under the framework of the United Nations resolution on the issue.
“When we talk about the bilateral dimension of this issue (Kashmir), of course it has to be settled by India and Pakistan and we do realise that the UN resolutions are an important framework for the settlement of this dispute,” newly appointed envoy said while briefing reporters on his country assuming the month-long presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council.
When asked if the Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally or under the auspices of the UN, Khan said “it cannot be characterised in such stark terms.
“The (UN) resolutions are there. They are relevant and in the meantime the dialogue between India and Pakistan must continue.
Last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had said that his country seeks to resolve the Kashmir issue on the basis of United Nations resolutions and aspiration of the Kashmiri people.
Khan cited the recent increased engagement between India and Pakistan on a host of issues, including trade and said top leadership of the two countries have met as the nations “moved towards engagement.”
“While India and Pakistan engage each other on a whole range of issues, we have always been and we make all sorts of overtures to India and there is greater interaction between civil societies of the two countries.
“This is our effort, this is the aspiration of the people of Pakistan that longstanding issues particularly the issue of Jammu and Kashmir would be settled in accordance with the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and a solution which has the concurrence of both India and Pakistan. KO Monitoring Desk
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