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| Musharraf hopes for 'good sense' over Kashmir | | | Beijing | Apr 14
President Pervez Musharraf on Monday said Pakistan was taking 'bilateral approach' with India over the Kashmir issue and hoped that 'good sense' will prevail on both sides to resolve the 'festering' dispute amicably.
Describing Kashmir and Palestinian issues as "old disputes", Musharraf told teachers and students at the elite Tsinghua University in Bejing that as far as Pakistan was concerned, "we are going on a bilateral approach with India".
"We hope that good sense prevails on both sides to resolve this long standing dispute amicably between our two countries for the benefit of people of these two countries," the President, who is on a six-day visit to China, said.
Pakistan has traditionally been insisting on third party mediation on the Kashmir issue, a demand outrightly rejected by India which wants it to be dealt bilaterally.
But Asif Ali Zardari, chairman of Pakistan People's Party that leads the ruling coalition had said recently that the ties between the two countries should not be held hostage to the Kashmir issue which should be left for future generations to resolve.
Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also said his government will not shy away from taking a "different" approach on the Kashmir issue and stressed on promoting bilateral trade.
Musharraf made reference to Kashmir twice in his speech while reviewing the international scene in the last 60 years,noting that the world was now moving towards multi-polarity.
"The old disputes have festered. I call old disputes.. the Palestinian dispute.. the Kashmir dispute," he said as he spoke of the September 11 terror attacks in the US that he said had "completely changed" the world and brought in "new dynamics".
Speaking about dangers to peace and development, Musharraf said unresolved political disputes led to terrorism and extremism. "Palestine is at the core of this," he said and sough its early resolution.
Surfacing of inter-faith and cultural prejudices like blasphesmous cartoons and inequities and the North-South divide between developing and developed countries were also contributory factors.
Musharraf said as part of joint efforts towards peace and harmony, principles of the UN Charter should be upheld and the world body made "more potent".But, he opposed increasing the number of permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
"That will increase areas of privileges… sources of privilege. We would rather prefer increasing the number of non-permanent members so that the UNSC becomes more representative and not centres of privileges and more people becoming more equal than the others".
Musharraf also mentioned about Kashmir in his remarks while referring to the period between 1979-89 which saw the defeat of erstwhile Soviet Union in the Afghan war and USSR's subsequent disintegration, thereby ending the cold war era.
He said terrorism and extremism took birth in the region because of the "vaccum that was left after 1989. During this period of 12 years, as a result of vaccum and as a result of internecine fighting in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and Taliban, terrorism and extremism have all erupted".
"New inter-state and regional conflicts have emerged. I call these as Iraq conflict, the Lebanon conflict, the US-Iran confrontation. All these have emerged after 9/11," he said, adding terrorism had now been given a "religious colour".
"As far as Pakistan is concerned, the Indo-Pakistan conflict in the world… the Kashmir struggle started in 1989... the freedom struggle in Kashmir...," Musharraf said. |
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