LAHORE: Paying tributes to Pakistan Armed Forces for the invincible courage, the incredible valour and the spirit of sacrifice that helped them beat back an enemy many times more powerful, the All-Pakistan National Conference today [Feb 6] thanked God for the divine help that made that possible.

Through a resolution passed at the morning session of the conference, presided over by Mr Nasrullah Khan, it paid homage to the land, air and naval forces of Pakistan.

Through another resolution moved by Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, the conference expressed the view that the Tashkent Declaration was detrimental to the national interest of Pakistan and derogatory to the country’s honour and dignity, and that it has adversely affected the prospects of an equitable and democratic settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

`It said the conference had been led to this conclusion by the following reasons:

“In this Declaration a date has been fixed for the withdrawal of forces without deciding anything about some practical steps for the settlement of the Kashmir issue.

“Pakistan has agreed not to resort to force for the settlement of Pakistan-India disputes, without any undertaking by India to recognise Kashmir as disputed territory and settle the dispute peacefully in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

“Pakistan has agreed not to interfere in the internal affairs of India not withstanding the fact that India has made it perfectly clear before the Tashkent Conference that it treated Kashmir as an integral part of its territories and an internal affair, and has reaffirmed this stand throughout the negotiations at Tashkent.

“For these reasons, the conference believed that the Tashkent Declaration has adversely affected Pakistan’s case on Kashmir and made the prospects of a just and honourable settlement of the dispute even dimmer than they appeared before the start of the war.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016