Islamabad: Pakistan and India were close
to resolving the Kashmir issue in 2006 and both countries had
even agreed that neither would claim victory if the dragging
dispute was resolved, former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood
Kasuri said on Friday.
Both countries were so close to a solution that Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to visit Pakistan in 2006
to settle the dispute, Kasuri said, during an even organised
in Lahore by a leading Pakistani media group.
"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to visit
Pakistan in late 2006 but elections in some Indian states and
the judicial crisis in Pakistan upset all the efforts," he
said.
He was referring to a political crisis triggered by
former military ruler Pervez Musharraf`s decision to remove
Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry from his post in
2007.
The two countries had also decided that neither would
claim victory if their efforts resulted in the resolution of
the Kashmir dispute, Kasuri said.
However, domestic problems in both countries put paid
to the efforts to settle the Kashmir issue, he added.
The progress made by Pakistan and India in talks on
the Kashmir dispute could serve as a starting point in fresh
negotiations by both sides on the issue, he said.
Pakistan and India had agreed on a "joint mechanism"
to settle the Kashmir issue, he said, giving details of the
talks.
"The Kashmiris demanded the right of
self-determination and withdrawal of all Indian forces from
occupied territory," Kasuri added.
Pakistan, India and the Kashmiri leadership were
involved in the discussions.
"Pakistan wanted the solution as per the wishes of
the Kashmiri people," Kasuri said.
Several leading Indian and Pakistani personalities,
including Mubashir Hassan, businessman Amin Hashwani, I A
Rahman, Shafqat Mehmood, Amitabh Matto, Prem Shankar Jha,
Admiral L Ramdas and former Foreign Secretary Salman Haider,
participated in the event.
PTI
