Islamabad
Commenting on the offer of mediation made by Donald Trump during his visit to India, Sardar Masood Khan said that the people of Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir are open to mediation and intercession. However, he added, such a process should be credible and take aboard all the parties to the dispute – Pakistan, India, the UN and the people of Jammu and Kashmir. In any formal or informal negotiations, he said, the voice of the Kashmiri people must be included because no solution is possible without their explicit free expression of political will for determining their destiny and persona.
The AJK President made these remarks while interacting with a multi-national delegation led by Mr. Muhammad Atta ur Rehman, Chairman Institute of International Peace Leaders (IIPL) and Lady Mya Amarise, Vice Chairperson IIPL.
The delegation, currently visiting Pakistan and Azad Kashmir consisted of diplomats, media professionals, businesspersons, philanthropists and economists. The delegates present belonged to the UK, Saudi Arabia, France, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
IIPL is an international, nonpartisan, independent institute, basically based in Pakistan, dedicated to promoting peace and security, interfaith harmony, and sustainable development.
The President in his conversation reiterated that, in any case, the mediatory efforts should not attempt to supplant the UN SC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir which are the anchor sheet for ascertaining the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Hence, he asserted, these resolutions and the UN Charter should be the starting point and the foundation of the mediatory process.
When President Trump, Masood Khan said, made his initial offer of mediation last July, it was welcomed by the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. However, its lustre started wearing thin when caveats and conditions were added to the original offer to assuage India, he said. Besides, the peace deal on Palestine has also raised apprehensions that mediation by a single nation or statesman could tilt in favour of India and might legitimise the status quo.
“This would be disastrous and a repudiation of the 200-year-old struggle of the Kashmiri people for liberty and self-determination”, he said. Still, he said, Pakistan should not close its doors on any good faith offers from the US. It may be recalled, Pakistan was instrumental in getting 12 resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir passed from the UN SC during 1948-1957.
“The United States is a preeminent power and an influential permanent member of the UN SC. Raising the issue of Kashmir against the backdrop of bonhomie during Trump’s visit to India was in itself an act of statesmanship”, he said, adding that words or intentions alone will not stop genocide and land grab in Kashmir but instead, it requires urgent and concrete actions.
Sardar Masood Khan said that humanity as a whole is in danger. In the present day, terrorism and the war against humanity are great challenges and as global citizens, we should work for peace, stability and sustainable development.—APP
