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ISLAMABAD, May 30: Pakistan said on Monday warm welcome awaited the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders on their arrival in Muzaffarabad aboard the June 2 trans-Kashmir bus and declared the Kashmiri leaders would also visit Islamabad and other cities.
“A majority of the Hurriyat leaders has decided to come and it is a good beginning,” Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said at his weekly news briefing here on Monday.
“They will be accorded very warm welcome,” he added and made it clear the Kashmiri leaders would also visit Islamabad and other cities.
Answering a question, he said President Gen Pervez Musharraf had not made any statement about autonomy or partial autonomy as a solution of the Kashmir issue. However, he said for a lasting solution of the Kashmir dispute, the president had articulated certain views including ‘unacceptability of a solution based on the Line of Control, a solution acceptable to all stakeholders, respect to the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and demilitarization (of the disputed region).’
“The president talked about empowering people of Kashmir and not about autonomy or partial autonomy as a solution to the Kashmir issue,” he said, emphasizing the need for continuing the bilateral discussions and consultations.
GEELANI: On APHC leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s decision not to visit Pakistan, the spokesman admitted it had created a sense of disappointment.
“People of Azad Kashmir were keenly looking forward to his visit and it certainly would have helped in taking the peace process forward,” he said
However, he expressed the hope Mr Geelani would undertake the visit at a later stage.
He disagreed with the view that Mr Geelani’s refusal to come to Pakistan at this point was linked to his fear that his life was in danger.
Answering a question, the spokesman emphatically said: “For us, all the Hurriyat leaders are well respected and we do not make any distinction.” Reiterating Pakistan’s position on the ongoing peace process with India, he said it considered Kashmiris an important part of the whole process.
Answering another question on the Indian army chief’s statement that cross-border terrorism across the LoC still existed, Mr Jilani said: “There is no cross-border terrorism and if there is any terrorism in held Kashmir, it is state terrorism.”
He warned such statements were not ‘helpful’ to the peace process in which the two countries were currently engaged and that had backing of top political leadership on both sides.
SHANKAR’S VISIT: Confirming Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar’s visit to Pakistan from June 4, the spokesman said it would be the first interaction between the Indian and Pakistani petroleum ministers to discuss the Iran-India gas pipeline project and other issues.
During the meeting, all aspects of the project would be covered, he said, adding the preliminary discussions between the two ministers would be followed by a trilateral meeting among Pakistan, Iran and India.
BAGLIHAR DAM: On the June 9 meeting of Pakistani and Indian officials with the neutral expert to discuss the Baglihar dam dispute, Mr Jilani said it would be a preliminary meeting in Paris, during which modalities and work schedule would be discussed with the expert appointed by the World Bank.
