The Hindu : We can't ensure end to infiltration: Pak.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 12, 2002

International

International

We can't ensure end to infiltration: Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD July 10. Making a strong plea to the international community to engage itself in finding a ``durable and just'' solution to the Kashmir dispute, the newly-appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Inam-ul Haq, has said that the Pakistani forces were in no position to ensure that "not a bird crossed' the Line of Control.

In his first interview to the London-based Financial Times, Mr. Haq said that Pakistan's armed forces were now doing ``everything possible'' to check the flow of militants — although, given the Himalayan terrain, it could hardly ensure that "not a bird'' crossed the LoC. ``The President of Pakistan has said there is no infiltration across the LoC. The Government of Pakistan neither sponsors nor encourages any infiltration across the LoC.''

``The international community must engage itself in finding a durable and fair and just solution to the Kashmir issue. If there is a willingness to find a solution according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, then definitely a solution can be found,'' he said.

Mr. Haq said that the world's renewed interest in Kashmir had created a vital opportunity to end the decades-old dispute. He said Pakistan was encouraged that the international community had begun to focus more attention on Kashmir, which was at the heart of the Indian-Pakistani antagonism since 1947.

``Certainly Pakistan believes that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir should attract the attention of the international community. The people have been denied the right of determining their future for more than half-a-century. In the past 12 years or so, around 80,000 Kashmiris have lost their lives,'' he said.

Mr. Haq urged India to resume direct talks to achieve a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.

"If it is not resolved, then tensions can break out again any time. It is only when you sit down across a table and talk about the various possibilities that a solution can emerge.''

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