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India rejects Islamic Conference move on Kashmir
India on Thursday dismissed as ``interventionist`` the suggestions by the 28th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) at Bamako in Mali, including financial assistance for the people of Kashmir and appointment of a special representative to handle the issue.
India on Thursday dismissed as ''interventionist'' the suggestions by the 28th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) at Bamako in Mali, including financial
assistance for the people of Kashmir and appointment of a special representative to handle the issue.
''We have always dismissed the interventionist approaches in our internal affairs,'' a foreign office spokesperson said here in reply to a question. The conference which concluded at Bamako, adopted four resolutions on Kashmir including one for financial assistance to the people of Kashmir.
The conference also called for the appointment of a special representative on Kashmir and sending a fact-finding team to the Valley. The conference described the July 15 summit meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a positive development. ?
Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq who attended the conference, held an hour-long meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on Tuesday. The two reportedly discussed the July 15 summit meeting between Gen Musharraf and Mr Vajpayee.
After the meeting, the Mirwaiz said India and Pakistan could not ignore the people of Jammu and Kashmir and its representative forum - the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) during the talks. ''In the past, all the bilateral talks between the two countries have failed,'' a Hurriyat spokesman in New Delhi quoted the Mirwaiz as having told Mr Sattar. Mr Farooq said the people of the strife-torn state were not against the peaceful solution of the 53-year-old issue, but would insist on their inclusion in the talks.
Mirwaiz Farooq had left for Bamako on Sunday to attend the conference in which the APHC enjoys a status of observer.
The five-day meeting, which commenced on June 24, discussed Kashmir, Afghanistan, Palestine and other issues faced by the Islamic world.
A two-member delegation of APHC'S Pak chapter was also in Mali to meet the Mirwaiz and discuss the summit and related issues. Before leaving for Bamako, Mr Farooq had said the dialogue between India and Pakistan was a positive step towards finding a lasting and permanent solution to the vexed Kashmir issue.
''The conglomerate had no objections if the two countries started the process of resolving the issue bilaterally with genuineness and sincerity,'' he said.
Bureau Report
''We have always dismissed the interventionist approaches in our internal affairs,'' a foreign office spokesperson said here in reply to a question. The conference which concluded at Bamako, adopted four resolutions on Kashmir including one for financial assistance to the people of Kashmir.
The conference also called for the appointment of a special representative on Kashmir and sending a fact-finding team to the Valley. The conference described the July 15 summit meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a positive development. ?
Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq who attended the conference, held an hour-long meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on Tuesday. The two reportedly discussed the July 15 summit meeting between Gen Musharraf and Mr Vajpayee.
After the meeting, the Mirwaiz said India and Pakistan could not ignore the people of Jammu and Kashmir and its representative forum - the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) during the talks. ''In the past, all the bilateral talks between the two countries have failed,'' a Hurriyat spokesman in New Delhi quoted the Mirwaiz as having told Mr Sattar. Mr Farooq said the people of the strife-torn state were not against the peaceful solution of the 53-year-old issue, but would insist on their inclusion in the talks.
Mirwaiz Farooq had left for Bamako on Sunday to attend the conference in which the APHC enjoys a status of observer.
The five-day meeting, which commenced on June 24, discussed Kashmir, Afghanistan, Palestine and other issues faced by the Islamic world.
A two-member delegation of APHC'S Pak chapter was also in Mali to meet the Mirwaiz and discuss the summit and related issues. Before leaving for Bamako, Mr Farooq had said the dialogue between India and Pakistan was a positive step towards finding a lasting and permanent solution to the vexed Kashmir issue.
''The conglomerate had no objections if the two countries started the process of resolving the issue bilaterally with genuineness and sincerity,'' he said.
Bureau Report