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| July 25, 2003 | Friday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424 |
‘Britain can facilitate peace process’
MUZAFFARABAD, July 24: A two-member delegation of British diplomats met Kashmiri politicians here on Thursday.
Political Counsellor Peter Waterworth and First Secretary Martin Cronin also visited the Line of Control (LoC) in Chakothi sector, south of Muzaffarabad where a local military commander briefed them on the situation along the volatile dividing line.
“The British government is following the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan very closely,” Mr Waterworth told Dawn at the residence of Secretary Information People’s Party Azad Kashmir and former minister Khwaja Farooq Ahmed.
Adviser to the AJK prime minister on information and political affairs Raja Farooq Haider Khan, PPAJK Secretary-General and former minister Chaudhry Latif Akbar and
some other political workers were also present on the occasion.
Mr Waterworth, who assumed office in March this year said it was important for the delegation to come to Kashmir and meet and talk with the Kashmiri people to know how they saw the peace process.
“The attitude of the people here is very positive. They yearn for peace and want to be a part of this process,” he said.
Replying to a question he said the key role Britain could play was to facilitate the peace process.
“We can prescribe solutions and make sure people understand each other and comprehend the process so that they contribute to the exercise and help bring peace and prosperity to their region.”
Mr Waterworth said Britain supported the intra-Kashmiri dialogue for building consensus among the Kashmiri leadership on both sides of the divided region.
“The message we have received time and again underlines the importance of intra-Kashmiri talks for the success of this process.”
Earlier, in their conversation with the visiting diplomats Kashmiri leaders emphasized that the world powers, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, should facilitate peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem by using their influence.
They also stressed that people to people contact between the divided parts of Kashmir could help evolve a consensus on a solution acceptable to India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris.
Earlier in Chakothi Brig Iftikhar told the diplomats that despite peace initiatives taken by both sides the situation along the LoC was still tense.
The official said the Indian troops had most of the time shelled civilian populations in the AJK without any provocation killing over 60 and injuring more than 170 people in the current year.
Mr Waterworth and Mr Cronin had arrived in the AJK on Wednesday and had met the AJK Senior Minister Syed Mumtaz Ali Gillani, Minister for Religious Affairs Hafiz Hamid Raza, SSP Muzaffarabad Khalid Mahmood Chauhan and chairperson of an NGO, HOPE Ms Taqdees Gillani.
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