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Nation
& States
Peace talks will make progress if
Kashmiris are in, says Pakistan
What is India News Service, July 12, 2004, 1700 hrs IST
Pakistani foreign minister
Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said early involvement of Kashmiris in the current talks between Pakistan and India will be better for all parties concerned.
"The quicker you involve them ... the better it will be for India and Pakistan and of course the Kashmiris," he told a news agency in London. He was on his way back to Islamabad from Moscow.
He said the Indian Government was now talking to All Parties' Hurriyat Conference leaders. "Given their higher stakes, Kashmiris are likely to be far more responsible in providing a solution that will be acceptable both to Pakistan and India and of course to themselves," the foreign minister said.
Mr Kasuri referred to the Jan 6 2004 statement and said the language used by the Indian Government on the issue of Kashmir was different from what it had been using in the past.
He said when President Gen Pervez Musharraf went to Aagra for a summit with the then Indian Prime Minister Atar Behari Vajpayee in 2001, he was the first leader in South Asia who had the courage and the vision to say that both parties "will have to show flexibility and to move away from their stated positions on Kashmir."
"Even if a child in a street either in Tamil Nadu or in tribal areas of Pakistan is asked about the cause of wars between Pakistan and India, the response will be that they were fought over the issue of Kashmir," the foreign minister said.
He said former US president Bill Clinton had described the Kashmir as the most dangerous place on earth. A former French minister had recently referred to Palestine and Kashmir as two flashpoints in the world.
He said the people both in Pakistan and India had realized that their countries had been overtaken by other Asian and African countries.
He said despite all opposition Pakistan had managed to upgrade its relations with the European Union and inked the Third Generation Agreement with it after a gap of eight years.
Clash with Qaeda
fighters: Security forces clashed on Sunday with suspected Al Qaeda fighters who attacked troops with rockets and mortars in South Waziristan, said Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, chief spokesman for the Pakistan army.
He said that the action against "foreign elements" had not been stopped and would continue till the army's objectives were achieved. An eyewitness, Shahid Khan, said that security forces\92 trenches were damaged and smoke was seen rising out of them in Shakai. A militia jawan said both sides had suffered heavy loss of life and several people were either killed or injured. Two young boys from the Toor tribe were also killed in the exchange of gunfire and a girl was injured.
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The government is persuading local tribesmen to get militants to surrender. Those who do not cooperate with the government will face punitive action, Gen Sultan said.
'Send money legally': Senior bank and postal officials touring the United States are urging Pakistani-Americans to use legal channels to send money home to relatives or friends.
During a Western Union reception this weekend, representatives of the National Bank and the Pakistan Post Office told their compatriots that using informal channels could cause problems for their relatives in Pakistan.
Money received through informal
channels, they said, cannot be used for buying homes, shares or for other legal purposes in Pakistan, the officials said. Those found with
large sums of money sent through illegal channels even end up in jail. The officials said in some cases informal foreign exchange dealers were found to have had links
with criminal gangs.
Afghan FM visiting
Pakistan: Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah will be arriving in Islamabad Tuesday on a three-day official visit.
He is scheduled to meet president Muharraf, prime minister Chaudhary
Shujaat, foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri and other high officials. During his visit, he will
discuss Pakistan Afghanistan ties besides role of Pakistan in the war against
terrorism.
Pandit tale of woe: Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, on Monday
released what they claim is an exhaustive compilation of documents relating to the displacement of nearly three lakh Kashmiri Hindus.
Compiled by a team of five researchers over two years, Kashmir Documentation \97
Pandits in Exile comprises a documents relating to the migration of Kashmiri Pandits over the last 15 years.
The document starts from a 1985 resolution passed by a Kashmiri Pandit youth organisation warning of possible largescale migration of Pandits from the Valley. It incorporates political resolutions, letters, memoranda, and personal accounts of the community about the loss of their homeland and the \91\91indifference of the state and Central government\92\92.
\91\91For the first time we have brought all these relevant documents under one cover. Anyone who has anything to do with not just the Pandit issue but with Kashmir will find this book invaluable,\92\92 said Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, the President of Panun Kashmir.
BITS
exempted: The Supreme Court on Monday exempted admissions to the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, from the purview of the All India Engineering Entrance Examination for the current academic year. It said the college could fill seats in various disciplines from the list of meritorious students who had applied earlier.
Overall:
Pakistan wanted Kashmiris included in talks: Pakistani foreign minister Kasuri says peace would come about if Kashmiris are brought to the negotiating table.
Qaeda fighters clashed with Pakistan army: Both sides suffered heavy losses on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Panun Kashmir released book: The Kashmiri Pandit organisation says it has documented the migration of non-Muslims from the border state.
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