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| March 31, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1427 |
Peace in South Asia linked to Kashmir settlement: Kasuri
ISLAMABAD, March 30: A delegation of members of the British House of Commons from the Conservative Party met Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri on Thursday and discussed bilateral ties between Pakistan and the UK and exchanged views on regional and international issues.
The six-member delegation included Dominic Grieve, MP, Paul Goodman, MP, and Syeda Warsi, vice-chairperson of the Conservative Party.
Mr Kasuri, welcoming the delegation, expressed satisfaction over the deepening of relations between Pakistan and the UK and referred to various high-level exchanges between the two countries in recent years.
He briefed the delegation about progress in the dialogue process with India aimed at addressing contentious issues, including that of Jammu and Kashmir.
The foreign minister welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent statement in which he spoke of the need to find a pragmatic solution to the Kashmir dispute.
He hoped that a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue would be found which was acceptable to Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir to bring lasting peace in South Asia.
He said President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s proposal of demilitarization and self-rule was pragmatic and was aimed at resolving the Kashmir issue which could bring about durable peace between India and Pakistan.
Mr Kasuri also briefed the delegation about Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and the high priority it attached to friendly relations with the neighbouring country.
In this regard, he referred to the increase in Pakistan-Afghan trade which was expected to rise to US$1.5 billion this year.
The minister went on to add that maintenance of close relations with Afghanistan was an imperative of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Pakistan in the last four years had encouraged Afghanistan in mutually beneficial cooperation in an institutionalized way, he added.
The briefing was followed by an interactive Question and Answer session in which various issues, including empowerment of women and protection of minorities in Pakistan, contributions of British citizens of Pakistani origin to the British society as well as issues faced by the community and the need for promoting greater dialogue with Muslims in the UK and the EU, were discussed.—APP
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