ISLAMABAD, June 7: President Gen Prevez Musharraf reiterated Pakistan’s “moral, diplomatic and political support to the indigenous struggle of self-determination of the Kashmiri people from Indian occupation forces,” an official statement said.

Talking to All Parties Hurriyat Conference representatives, who called on him here on Friday, the president assured them of Pakistan’s commitment to a just and negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute, which was the core issue and root cause of tensions in South Asia, in accordance with the United Nations resolutions and the wishes of the people of Kashmir.

Representatives of the APHC of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chapter, including Mohammad Sadiq Ganai, Convener of the Peoples’ League; Altaf Hussain Qadri, General Secretary of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front; Professor Mohammad Ashraf Saraf of the Muslim Conference, Syed Mohammad Yousaf Naseem of the People’s Conference, Ghulam Mohammad Safi of the Jammat-i-Islami, Mir Tahir Masood of the Ittehadul Muslimeen and Syed Faiz Ahmed Naqshbandi of the Awam Action Committee, called on the president.

The APHC representatives appreciated the steps that had been taken by the president and his government for drawing world attention to the Kashmir dispute.

They welcomed the policy of restraint which Pakistan had been pursuing in the face of Indian troop mobilization. They said the people of Kashmir would stand “shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in the advent of any attempt at misadventure by India.”

The representatives of the APHC AJK Chapter called upon the Indian government not to push South Asia towards destruction by resorting to a senseless confrontation, which was not in the interest of the people of both the countries.

APHC representatives expressed their total support to Pakistan’s call for a dialogue and the settlement of all outstanding disputes through meaningful negotiations.

During the meeting Fateha was also offered for the departed soul of prominent Kashmiri leader Abdul Ghani Lone, who was recently assassinated in the Indian-held Kashmir and whose murderers were still at large.