June 23, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 22: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the Kashmiri leadership from both sides of the Line of Control will be consulted before the next round of talks with India.

Talking to reporters on return from Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after attending the OIC foreign ministers’ conference, he said he had invited leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to exchange views with them.

The minister said the representatives of Kashmiris from both the sides had attended the conference. He termed the unity among the Kashmiri leadership under the banner of the APHC as a good omen for the Kashmir cause.

He said OIC Secretary-General Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanogulu and other members of its contact group on Kashmir had supported the dialogue process between Pakistan and India.

The minister said that, for the first time, the Kashmir issue had been included in the Kampala Declaration and Pakistans efforts for resolving it had been appreciated.

He said Pakistan had asked the countries having good relations with India to put pressure on it to end human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

Mr Qureshi said the OIC could play an important role through unity and cooperation in trade among the members.