ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: Pakistan on Thursday rejected the proposal of opening a consulate in the Indian held Kashmir made by Mehbooba Mufti, president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The proposal was made at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday by the PDP president, a coalition partner in the Congress-led government in held Kashmir.
“Pakistan can only establish a consulate on the Indian territory and since Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory the question does not arise,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Dawn on Thursday, when asked if Pakistan would consider such a proposal.
Advocating setting-up of a Pakistani consulate in held Kashmir, Ms Mufti said it would facilitate travel for the locals to Azad Jammu and Kashmir which at present was an extremely time-consuming exercise.
Meanwhile, when the Foreign Office spokesperson’s comments were sought on a Washington Post editorial that bitterly criticized Pakistan and President Musharraf’s role in war against terrorism, she said: “This is not a policy statement. We do not comment on baseless and motivated observations made in a newspaper.”
