By Arun Kumar, IANS,
New York: Denying that Pakistan is fomenting trouble in Kashmir, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asked the United States and the international community to help resolve the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan has neither the means nor the capacity to mobilise the young and old to stage protest demonstrations and shut down towns and cities, he said in an address at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, here Tuesday.
“The international community must recognize that the people of Kashmir, in an entirely indigenous upsurge, are demanding their right to self-determination,” Qureshi claimed adding, “The occupation cannot continue.”
Qureshi, who reports suggest is likely to meet Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, asked India to take a “fresh look” at the evolving situation in the territory and sit down with Pakistan to resolve the issue.
“Dialogue is the only way forward…We can do it,” he said. “We are convinced that sustainable peace can only offer the best guarantee for ensuring a bright and prosperous future for the over one billion people inhabiting the region.”
“Resuming the dialogue process with India, therefore, remains a major objective for us,” Qureshi said noting his talks with Krishna in July were “useful”.
“We look forward to constructive and result oriented interaction with India on all issues, especially the issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
The United Nations had recognized the rights of the Kashmiri people long ago, Qureshi said. “Now is the time for the international community to do something about it.”
“We call upon the United States particularly, which is pressing so responsibly for peace in the Middle East, to also invest its political capital in trying to help seek an accommodation for Kashmir,” he added.
“It has always baffled me that the international community has long recognized that the Palestinian question is the core issue to peace in the Middle East, but does not seem to understand that, similarly, until the status of Jammu and Kashmir is resolved, real peace in South Asia will remain elusive,” Qureshi said.
“The rights of the Kashmiri people cannot continue to be denied,” he said. “Surely the world can recognize that this resistance is internal and visceral. It may be easy for some to dismiss the uprisings as outside agitation, but no one any longer can seriously believe this.”
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])