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No sidelining of Kashmir, Musharraf sticks to his gun
Islamabad, May 20: Pakistan would not `sideline` the Kashmir issue and will not be `coerced` into an agreement affecting its honour and dignity, President Pervez Musharraf assured his top Army commanders today.
Islamabad, May 20: Pakistan would not "sideline" the Kashmir issue and will not be "coerced" into an agreement affecting its honour and dignity, President Pervez Musharraf assured his top Army commanders today.
Addressing the 85th Corps Commanders Conference at the General Headquarters, Musharraf hailed the thaw in Indo-Pak relations but said: "Pakistan would never sideline the Kashmir issue."
Pakistan stood for peace in the region and the peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues with India including the Kashmir issue through a meaningful dialogue based on sovereign equality, an official release quoted Musharraf as saying.
Besides discussing prospects of normalisation of ties with India, Musharraf also briefed the Army top brass on his recent meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, prince Karim Agha Khan, special messenger of the king of Morocco and US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Armitage.
The official press release on the Corps Commanders meet however did not mention the deliberations on the domestic political situation but said the participants were briefed about the external and internal security situation.
In what can be perceived as another setback to the peace overtures, Pakistan today also ruled out extradition of 20 criminals and terrorists wanted by India, saying there was no extradition treaty between the two neighbours.
"We do not have an extradition treaty with India. So, therefore there was no question of handing them over to India," Pakistan's interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat was quoted by a TV channel as saying after chairing a high level meeting to review law and order in the country. He also denied earlier statements on banning Hizbul Mujahideen but said restrictions had been imposed on its activities.
Hayat, who was earlier quoted in the media here as saying the group was banned, "clarified" during the course of the day that it was included in the list of seven militant outfits that have been proscribed in the aftermath of September 2001 attacks on US.
He said: "We cannot ban Hizbul Mujahideen. The ban cannot be applicable because it is not a Pakistan-based organisation. They (Hizb) are not allowed to regroup as a militant force obviously. Use of militancy is totally out of question, we will not allow them to use our soil to propagate any damaging propaganda or physical activity which could endanger the life or pose a security threat to Pakistan or any of its neighbours."
Bureau Report