ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: A conference on Kashmir dispute held recently in Kathmandu agreed to seek peaceful solutions that are 'honourable' and 'feasible', according to a consensus paper of the dialogue sponsored by the US-based think tank, Pugwash.
The document, made available to Dawn by a dialogue participant, Sardar Khalid Ibrahim, said the four-day conference that ended at the Nepalese capital on Dec 13 decided to institutionalize the process started by the International Pugwash Foundation.
No date for the next conference was set, but Mr Ibrahim said he expected it to be held in three to four months at some neutral venue. The Kathmandu conference, which welcomed the recently revived peace process between Pakistan and India, provided a rare chance to Kashmiri politicians and intellectuals from both sides of the Line of Control dividing Jammu and Kashmir to discuss the future of their disputed Himalayan state among themselves.
The conference paper listed four points on which it said a 'general consensus' had developed at the meeting: The points are:
- Dignity and welfare of the inhabitants of people of Jammu and Kashmir be of paramount importance.
- The process of peace be developed around the following features: (1) Solutions be sought in a peaceful manner, (2) solutions to be perceived as honourable, (3) solutions to be feasible.
- Confidence-building measures be taken to include ending violence, steps to improve economy and social institutions, and steps to create conditions of rule of law.
- The dialogue process started in Kathmandu be continued and institutionalized. Pug wash, which is a Nobel peace laureate non-governmental organization, holds conferences around the world to seek solution to global problems.
