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Proposals on Kashmir “half-baked”

Islamabad: The new Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani says the proposals discussed with India in the recent years to resolve the Kashmir issue were “half-baked things that didn’t have the mandate of Parliament.”

Reverting to the hawkish stand that the “core issue” of Kashmir must be settled in line with U.N. resolutions and the aspirations of Kashmiri people, he said, at the same time, there should be a rethink on the Kashmir issue and that his government could “go beyond” the U.N. resolutions.

Outlining the new coalition government’s plans to improve relations with India and resolve outstanding issues, he told Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s programme ‘Devil’s Advocate’: “Yes, there are a few core issues which we want to resolve. At the same time, we want to maintain excellent and extremely good relations with our neighbours.”

On Kashmir, Mr. Gillani said: “Our point of view is very, very clear, that is [the issue should be resolved] according to the resolutions of [the] United Nations and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.” He said the issue would be discussed when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Islamabad on May 21.

Dismissing the proposals discussed by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during parleys over the past four years, which included suggestions that there should be no alteration of boundaries and that borders should be made irrelevant, Mr. Gillani said: “These were half-baked things that didn’t have the mandate of the Parliament. And now the new government has taken over, we have a government that has a Prime Minister who was unanimously elected. We have the support of all the political forces in the country.”

Mr. Gillani said: “Therefore I think (the Kashmir issue) needs to be debated, there should be a rethink about it and maybe, the Parliament thinks the same.”

He said his government wanted to go beyond the U.N. resolutions but, at the same time, “we have to resolve the core issue as well.”

Mr. Gillani repeatedly referred to the Kashmir dispute as the “core issue” in bilateral relations, and also rejected The retired General Musharraf’s four-point proposal for a solution on the basis of self-governance and joint management of Kashmir.

“Actually that was the President’s idea. This is not the idea of the newly elected government,” he said, adding the Kashmir issue had to be resolved “for stable relations.” The process must start from the U.N. resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.

When it was pointed out that such an approach could disappoint India as it amounted to turning back the clock, Mr. Gillani said: “This is not exactly what you think about it. It is that the people of Pakistan, who have given the mandate to the new government ...there is a tremendous feeling that we want to resolve the Kashmir issue. Maybe, the procedures and modalities are different.”

Asked if respecting the aspirations of the Kashmiri people would tantamount to giving them the power to veto any decision made by India and Pakistan, Mr. Gillani replied in the negative. He added: “That means they should be on board and we should respect their point of view.”

The ruling coalition, led by the Pakistan People’s Party, would “take the other political forces into confidence because this government is a broad-based government.” The Prime Minister agreed with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari that trust and confidence could be built through people-to-people contacts as well as trade and cultural ties as the countries “share a lot of commonalities.” — PTI

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