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Publisher: INFORMATION PRESS – www.InformPress.com – USA

Remarks of Pakistan’s Diplomat Muhammad Aslam Khan at the Kashmir Conference

(InformPress.com) – Mr. Muhammad Aslam Khan, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Pakistan, Washington DC, USA, delivered his following remarks on 1 August at the 9th International Kashmir Peace Conference held in America’s capital at the U.S. Congress Rayburn House Office Building and the KAC-Kashmir Center office from Thursday, 31 July to Friday, 1 August 2008:

Kashmir – A Way Forward

Americans Should Assist Pakistanis, Kashmiris and Indians in Resolving the Kashmir Confict.

By MUHAMMAD ASLAM KHAN

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For the last more than 60 years, a dispute over Kashmir has been at the root cause of the conflict between Pakistan and India. Kashmir has been and remains the main destabilizing factor in South Asia. Kashmir is the issue which has held over a billion inhabitants of South Asia hostage, depriving them the opportunity to raise their standards of life. After the nuclearization of South Asia, Kashmir has also become “a nuclear flash point” between Pakistan and India. President Clinton once described Kashmir as the most dangerous place on Earth.

2. To put it simply from Pakistan’s point of view, the issue is not about the territory of Kashmir, but about the basic human rights of the people of Kashmir – their right of self-determination.

3. As noted by earlier speakers, the atmosphere in South Asia was never better than what we have today. The way forward, nevertheless, remains as challenging as ever. It is full of opportunities as well as risks. What is required is courage, flexibility, a positive and pragmatic approach with a willingness to accept even, “out-of-the-box” feeling.

4. Now coming to the specifics, what are the options that we have today? War is not an option. This has been tried at least twice. As we know, instead of solving anything, wars actually give rise to new problems. In fact, there is no greater problem than war itself. Status quo is not an option either. In fact, status quo is precisely the problem that we want to solve. What is status quo? Status quo means denial of right of self-determination to the 15 million Kashmiris in disregard of the UN resolutions. Status quo means the attempt to impose the imperial designs of a regional power on the people of Kashmir by force that the people of Kashmir have not accepted even for a single day in the past six decades. Status quo is occupation. Status quo means the heaviest concentration of troops on Earth. Status quo means killings, torture, rape and violations of the fundamental human rights of the men, women and children of Kashmir, every day. For the Kashmiri people, status quo means the continuing cycle of death, destruction, poverty and misery. For Pakistan and India, status quo is the perpetuation of the cycle of acrimony, animosity and unending conflict. Status quo means denial of lasting peace and stability to South Asia. Status quo means that the region and world remain under the threat of nuclear horror. You know very well that status quo means much more.

5. Peaceful settlement is an option. It takes many forms. A direct way forward would be to start from the UN resolutions and have them implemented. This is the demand of justice and fair play. This is what the people of Kashmir deserve. This is what India, Pakistan, the UN, big powers and smaller powers have promised to the people of Kashmir. This is what has been and remains Pakistan’s principled position throughout the past six decades.

6. Composite dialogue is an option. There has been some progress under the Composite Dialogue, but only to the extent of CBMs. As you know, CBMs do not solve problems. They provide a facilitating environment for solution of problems. That environment is already in place. Several important Kashmir-specific CBMs have been implemented and Pakistan is ready for more CBMs. However, unfortunately, the ground realities in the occupied Kashmir have not changed much. Despite promises made by the Indian leadership, neither has there been any reduction in troops in the valley nor has there been any let up in the atrocities.

7. The Composite Dialogue has not yet led to resolving the relatively less intractable problems like Siachen. The resolution of these issues remains stalled for the familiar reasons of Indian intransigence.

8. The real way forward, therefore, is to avail the present historic opportunity and address squarely the core issue, with a sincerity of purpose, flexibility and most importantly, with a reasonable time frame.

9. What is the foremost and immediate concern of the people of Pakistan? Their foremost and immediate concern is the plight of the 15 million people of Kashmir. We want an end to the daily atrocities. We want that the people of Kashmir must be able to breathe in an atmosphere free from fear and insecurity. We want them to be able to pursue their normal daily lives as normal human beings. For these reasons, Pakistan is willing even to consider out of the box options. It is under these considerations that Pakistan has floated the proposals of Identification of Regions, Demilitarization, Self-Governance and Joint Management.

10. The role of the international community, the UN and especially, the sole superpower, the United States, is and will always remain of crucial importance for success of the Composite Dialogue. Pakistan appreciates the role that the U.S. is already playing. Obviously, the U.S., the UN and the international community at large can do much more. Now that the U.S. enjoys closet relations with both Pakistan and India, its capacity to help resolve the Kashmir dispute has increased substantially. There is no reason why the U.S. should opt out of playing that role. There is every reason for it to play that role. It is our hope that the U.S. would not shy away from helping the two parties now when they are in the best position to help themselves.

11. Finally, one point that Pakistan has emphasized all along is that no effort, no mechanism and no solution would take us anywhere, unless and until it is agreed to and accepted by the people of Kashmir, who must be associated with the peace process. I thank you.

Biography of Pakistani Diplomat Muhammad Aslam Khan

© Copyright: Information Press – www.InformPress.com – 2008
Chief Editor: Journalist Syed Adeeb – www.SyedAdeeb.net
Publisher: Information Press – News Views Media – USA
Publication Date: Thursday, 14 August 2008