KARACHI, March 28: The visiting Pakistan People's Party delegation on Sunday assured the Kashmiri leaders that it favoured peace in the region and a solution of the Kashmir problem which was acceptable to the troika - India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people.
This assurance was given by Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who is heading the PPP delegation, to the Hurriyet Conference leaders who met him at a lunch given by prominent jurist and India's former law minister Ram Jethmalani in the Indian capital.
The Kashmiri leaders, including Abdul Ghani Bhatt, Mirwaiz Farooq, Maulana Abbas Ansari and others presented their point of view on the Kashmir problem and efforts being made to resolve it through a process initiated by India and Pakistan, the delegation's media coordinator, Nafees Siddiqui, told Dawn on telephone from New Delhi.
The Kashmir leaders, he said, emphasized that any solution imposed by sidelining Kashmiris would neither be acceptable nor sustainable. They said that during their meeting with Mr L.K. Advani they had made their views clear to the Indian leadership.
They said that attempts to divide the Hurriyet conference would not succeed and such tactics would not lead to lasting peace. Makhdoom Amin Fahim emphasized that the PPP had always strived for peace in the region, whether it was during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's rule or during the Benazir Bhutto government.
He said that peace was a pre-requisite for curtailing defence expenditure and providing funds for social sector development and improving the quality of life of the teeming millions who were living below poverty line.
Mr Fahim said the PPP favoured a solution which was acceptable to all the three parties to the conflict. There should also be more exchanges between Kashmiris on either side of the divide, just like people-to-people contact taking place between India and Pakistan.
Mr Fahim said that his delegation was visiting India on the directives of Benazir Bhutto to emphasize that political parties could do well to carry forward the peace process in a much better way than the military government.
Host Ram Jethmalani welcomed the delegation and emphasized the need for party-level exchanges to create a better understanding between the people of the two countries.
He said that after Indian elections he would try that delegations of BJP, Congress and other parties also visit Pakistan and vice versa. He praised Ms Bhutto's struggle and hoped that she would visit India soon.
In the evening, former Indian prime minister I.K. Gujral hosted a reception for the PPP delegation. He emphasized the need for pushing forward the peace process and cutting down wasteful expenses.
