MUZAFARABAD, Feb 9: AJK prime minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan on Saturday expressed regret over the United Nations secretary-general’s statement regarding its role in the settlement of the longstanding Kashmir dispute.

“Mr (Kofi) Annan’s offer of the UN’s help for the resolution of the Kashmir issue is discouraging because it is conditional to the willingness of India,” the premier said at the “Accession to Pakistan Rally” in Dadyal, in the southern Mirpur district.

Being an aggressor and oppressor, he said, India would never show its willingness to the UN’s involvement in Kashmir for the resolution of the problem in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiris.

“The UN will have to intervene in Kashmir without seeking an invitation from the aggressor, like it has done in many other global conflicts,” Sardar Sikandar said.

He pointed out that Kashmir was an internationally-recognized dispute and the UN security council resolutions on it enshrined a referendum to ascertain the free will of the Kashmiris regarding their future.

The AJK premier said it was due to India’s dilly-delaying that President Musharraf had called for the third party mediation.

“President Musharraf has rightly pointed out the failure of bilateralism and called upon the international community, particularly the UN, to play their role in resolving the simmering Kashmir problem,” Sardar Sikandar said.

He expressed the hope that the cease-fire line in Kashmir, which had divided the families for more than 54 years, would collapse like the Berlin Wall.

Earlier, the PM laid the foundation stone of various development projects in sub-division Dadyal.