ISLAMABAD (PTI) Pakistan on July 1 said that it is extending moral, diplomatic and political support only to the people of Kashmir in their indigenous struggle for right of self-determination.
Pakistan will continue to extend this support, a foreign office spokesman said while replying to a question on the allegations made by the premier Narasimha Rao about Pakistan’s involvement in north Indian Border States Kashmir and Punjab.
The spokesman said that India instead of making baseless allegations should recognise the genuine and authentic nature of the indigenous struggle of the Kashmiri people, respect their human rights and agree to resolve the issue peacefully.
He said Islamabad categorically denies any allegations or accusations of Pakistan’s interference in cast Punjab. To a question on Sindh, he said Pakistan is aware of involvement of India in the internal situation in Sindh.
“We feel that those activities of Indian government amount to interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs and it is our hope that India will desist from such activities in future,” he said, He, however, declined to elaborate and said,” 1 cannot go in further details”.
Replying to a question, he said that no dates had yet been fixed for the sixth round of foreign secretary level talks between India and Pakistan,
The two prime ministers have had a useful meeting in Rio De Jeneiro and agreed to resume the dialogue at the foreign secretary level at mutually convenient dates. “We are looking forward to the resumption of the talks and hope that continuation of the dialogue will enable the two countries to resolve outstanding issues peacefully,” the spokesman said. He said that Islamabad was committed to continuing its efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully according to U.N. Resolutions and as agreed upon in the Shimla accord.
Rao during his visit to Japan last month had said Kashmir was a closed chapter. To a question on Afghanistan, the spokesman said that there were indications that Kabul was interested in joining the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) but no formal request had yet been made. “Pakistan will be glad to support any such request”, he added At present, ECO comprises Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. The requests by five central Asian republics — Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, to joint the ECO were being processed by legal experts which would be completed soon.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994
