MUZAFFARABAD, July 1: Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Amanullah Khan has termed the outcome of the India-Pakistan secretary level talks "highly disappointing."
"The upshot of the secretary level talks held in New Delhi is that the two sides would continue talks on this issue but the dark aspect is that the Simla Agreement of July 2, 1972 and joint declaration by the two sides of Jan 6, 2004 have been set as the guiding principles for the future talks," he said in a statement.
Mr Khan pointed out that both the Simla agreement and the Jan 6 joint declaration had no mention of the Kashmiris' internationally acknowledged right to self-determination.
Nor the Kashmiris had been accepted as a party although they were the most important and most affected side in this festering issue, he said. "Just like the Jan 6 joint declaration, the June 28 statement also tells us that the talks are being held to safeguard and achieve the interests of India and Pakistan and ironically there is no mention of the interests of the basic party," the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief said.
"Not only this but according to schedule, issues like Siachen and Wullar Barrage have been segregated from the talks on Kashmir, whereas both are part of the Himalayan region," he added.
