ISLAMABAD, March 20: Pakistan on Monday called upon India to engage seriously in the composite dialogue process to find an acceptable solution to the Kashmir dispute and completely ruled out any solution based on the status quo.
“The fact that the status quo has not resolved the Kashmir dispute and the fact that Kashmiris have agitated against it for so long proves it amply that any solution based on the status quo is not acceptable,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news briefing here.
She was responding to a question about observations made by Indian National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan on the Kashmir issue and various proposals emanating from Pakistan.
Hitting back at Mr Narayanan’s claim that Pakistan was not serious about a final settlement to the Kashmir dispute, Ms Aslam said: “We have emphasised that first and foremost India should engage seriously in the composite dialogue process in order to find an acceptable solution to the Kashmir dispute.”
She added: “India can also put forward ideas and proposals that are acceptable to Pakistan and Kashmiris.”
The spokesperson maintained that Pakistan had been making “earnest efforts” to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute which was at the heart of Pakistan-India tension. For quite sometime, she said, President Pervez Musharraf has been advocating the need for ‘out-of-box’ thinking to find a solution acceptable to all stakeholders. In this context the FO spokesperson specifically referred to the proposals of self-rule, demilitarisation and joint management, saying: “These ideas were put forward in good faith and in the hope of making forward movement in the composite dialogue.”
She underlined that these ideas had generated a great deal of interest among Kashmiris and many Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) had supported them.
Rebutting Mr Narayanan’s assertion that Pakistan was breeding a new form of ‘jihadi terror’ against India aimed at fanning communal tensions within India, the spokesperson categorically stated: “This is an absolutely baseless comment and we reject it.”
PRISONERS: In response to a question, Ms Aslam said the total number of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails was close to 540.
She said Pakistan had so far been given consular access to only 105 whose national status had now been confirmed and their repatriation was awaited. “This is an ongoing process and the two governments and the Foreign Offices are constantly in touch to expedite the confirmation of their national status and release,” she stated.
INDO-US DEAL: In response to a question the FO spokesperson drew attention to the “very comprehensive” statement issued by the Foreign Office on Friday, articulating Pakistan’s position on the Indo-US nuclear deal. “We have repeatedly said we believe that this deal is not helpful to stability in South Asia and to the international non-proliferation efforts,” she emphasised.
Reiterating that any discriminatory treatment on the nuclear issue would not be acceptable to Pakistan, she observed: “It would have been better for the US to work out a package deal that took care of the security and the stability concerns in South Asia, international non-proliferation efforts as well as the energy needs of Pakistan and India.”
Her response to a question on whether Pakistan like India would also be prepared for separation of its nuclear facilities was: “That is something we would consider when we come to it.”
When asked what other options were available to Pakistan and if Pakistan had approached the Nuclear Suppliers Group in this regard, the FO spokesperson said: “We have had discussions with the NSG. We are exploring various options.”
In response to another question later the FO spokesperson clarified that Pakistan had not initiated discussions with the NSG now and said the discussions it has had with the NSG were not about the Indo-US nuclear deal.
AFGHANISTAN: Ms Aslam did not deem it necessary to comment on fresh allegations by Afghanistan’s foreign minister about terrorist camps inside Pakistan. In a clear message that such allegations did not merit attention, she said: “We have been over this territory so many times. I think we should now lose interest even in commenting on these statements.”
On reports that Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Ayman Al Zawahiri were hiding in Pakistan, the FO spokesperson said nobody was aware of their whereabouts.
