Historic opportunity to solve Kashmir: PM

NEW YORK—Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that a historic opportunity exists to resolve Kashmir in an acceptable manner for all concerned parties and emphasized the need for courage, magnanimity and flexibility for settlement of the decades-old dispute.
Addressing a gathering of academics and students at the Princeton University Thursday evening, he said a stable conflict-free cooperative relationship between Pakistan and India holds the key to durable peace and prosperity in South Asia. The prime minister said since the launch of Pakistan-India peace process in 2004 there has been improved atmosphere and increased people-to-people contacts “but we must now move towards dispute resolution.”
“We must address the malaise and not just the symptoms. We believe that a historical opportunity exists to resolve the Kashmir dispute in a manner acceptable to Pakistan and India and most importantly to the people of Kashmir,” he stressed. Kashmir is the core issue between the two South Asian countries, he later told students during the question answer session and underlined that there is a need for “courage, magnanimity and flexibility” from all sides to bring a solution.
He said Pakistan has proposed ideas of demilitarization, self-governance and joint management. “We believe Kashmiris have suffered and their cause must be heard,” he stated. In his wide-ranging address, Prime Minister Aziz spoke about Pakistan’s vital strategic importance and spelt out the country’s position on major regional and international issues and its efforts to sustain a high economic growth befitting its enormous potential.
“In our external relations we are striving for a peaceful environment in our region, first and foremost in the interest of our own development and for raising the living standards of our people.” Pakistan, he said, is critical for security and stability of the adjoining region that encompass Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia in particular the Gulf. He dwelt on Pakistan’s vital location to serve as trade and energy corridor for the regions and informed the gathering that Pakistan provides the shortest access to the sea for landlocked countries of Central Asia as well as Western China. He added Pakistan is developing a third port at Gwadar to facilitate regional linkages.
Pakistan is engaged in large-scale construction of roads and plans to have a rail network as well that would serve to link up the adjoining regions, especially Central Asia, he said. The country also plans to develop oil and gas pipelines and electricity grids which could satisfy Pakistan’s growing energy needs and become energy corridors for China and India. In the context of Pakistan-US ties, he said, today the relations between the two countries are pivotal - both regionally and globally. “These relations are now on an upward trajectory and we have put in place the elements of a robust and broad-based strategic partnership.”
The prime minister said cooperation between Pakistan and the US is essential for peace and development in the world as well as in the region. “We are involved in a joint struggle against extremism and terrorism, we are committed to forging a better understanding between Islam and the West, we have a shared interest in addressing proliferation concerns, we are cooperating to promote peace and security in South Asia.