Use flexibility on Kashmir, Musharraf urges India, Pak

Kashmir remains the ‘core issue’ between India and Pakistan, Pak President said.

India and Pakistan will have to show flexibility and take Kashmiri people “fully on board” to find a solution to the “core issue” of Kashmir, President Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday.

Kashmir remains the “core issue” between India and Pakistan, he said during a meeting with a visiting Hurriyat Conference team led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at his camp office.

The two countries will have to show flexibility to reach a final settlement on the Kashmir issue, he said.

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Pakistan will never accept any solution to the issue unless the people of Kashmir too accept it and are “fully on board”, Musharraf was quoted as saying by Dawn News channel.

Musharraf said he looked at the “Kashmir struggle with great admiration” and the “sacrifices” made by the Kashmiris for a “just solution” would not go in vain.

The Mirwaiz, who is visiting Pakistan at the invitation of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said the Kashmir issue would not have been recognised internationally without Pakistan’s support.

The “Kashmir struggle remains steadfast” and the Hurriyat does not recognise the upcoming polls in Jammu and Kashmir as they are not a substitute for “the right to self-determination,” Farooq said.

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He also said the Hurriyat supports the peace process between India and Pakistan and the confidence-building measures put in place in Kashmir by both countries.

The Hurriyat team has also met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and ruling PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

The team was invited to visit Islamabad for consultations with the top Pakistani leadership ahead of Foreign Minister Qureshi’s trip to India beginning June 27.