http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/12/asia/AS_GEN_Pakistan_Kashmir.php
Pakistan says Kashmir not its part, people there should decide ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan has never claimed Kashmir as an integral part of its territory, a foreign ministry official said, despite six decades of war and separatist insurgency in the Himalayan region that is bitterly disputed with neighboring India. Tasnim Aslam, spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, said Monday it is up to the Kashmiri people to decide whether they would like to be part of Pakistan. The mostly Muslim region, claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, is currently divided between the two countries along an uneasy cease-fire line. "For the last 60 years, we have not claimed Kashmir to be an integral part of Pakistan," Aslam told reporters. "In case the people of Kashmir are able to decide, it is our hope that they would opt for Pakistan." The comments came a week after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suggested Pakistan was willing to give up its claim on Kashmir if India reciprocated and agreed to self-governance there. He proposed the South Asian neighbors could jointly supervise Kashmir. India has long claimed that Kashmir is an integral part of its territory. The region was divided between them during partition of the subcontinent on independence from Britain in 1947. Pakistan has long demanded that Kashmiris vote in a referendum to decide whether the territory should become part of Pakistan or India. In his recent comments, Musharraf said neither country supported full independence for Kashmir. The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the region. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting an Islamic insurgency in India's two-thirds of Kashmir that has killed 68,000 people since it erupted in 1989. Pakistan says it only gives the rebels diplomatic and moral support. The two rivals began a peace dialogue in January 2004, which has eased tensions but has made little progress over resolving the Kashmir dispute. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
