Islamabad, Jan 07: Pakistani opposition parties rebuked President Pervez Musharraf today over his breakthrough deal to reopen formal talks with India, accusing him of making too many concessions on Kashmir. "We cannot call it a historic event," said Raja Zafar ul Haq, leader of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Party, challenging Musharraf's proclamation that history had been made.
"Pakistan has substantially withdrawn from its stated position on Kashmir without any quid pro quo," he said.
Zafar said the joint statement marked a "significant change" in Pakistan's policy on Kashmir by omitting reference to United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for a referendum.
"But for the first time in 56 years this is not done in the joint statement issued in Islamabad," Zafar said.
"They are now seeking a settlement acceptable to both India and Pakistan."
The Islamist alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) also dismissed the agreement as "one-sided".
"Pakistan is sidelining the UN resolution on Kashmir," said MMA executive Hafiz Hussain Ahmed.
"Musharraf has pledged to block the Kashmiri struggle from Pakistan's side but got nothing in return from India." Bureau Report