'Kargil conflict has internationalised Kashmir issue'
LAHORE, July 25: Pakistan has been able to effectively put across the Kashmir issue in the world fora through the Kargil conflict and the pressure is on India to resolve this question according to the wishes of the people of occupied Kashmir.
This was stated at a joint briefing on Sunday by Federal Information and Culture Minister Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary Tariq Altaf and Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General Brig Rashid Qureshi for the
editors and columnists of the Lahore dailies.
Mushahid Hussain said sound and sensible policies of the government have succeeded in ensuring the involvement of the United States for the solution of the Kashmir problem.
"The Kargil conflict has now shifted the pressure from Pakistan to India following the Washington Agreement," Mushahid said.
The military successes of the army and the achievements of mujahideen who occupied certain number of heights in Kargil sector greatly boosted political stance of both Pakistan and the Kashmiris, he said.
"The message that went through these gains was that unless the world community does not pressurise India to solve this lingering issue, Kashmir will remain a nuclear flashpoint," Mushahid asserted.
He said if today it is Kargil then tomorrow it could be Baramula or Dodha day after and the situation will continue to simmer if the Kashmir dispute is not resolved amicably.
"That is the basic message of Kargil," Mushahid said and added that the issue had been effectively internationalized which is a great success of Pakistan's foreign policy.
The minister said Pakistan succeeded in ensuring the involvement of USA while at the same time the Indian army were given a severe battering.
"It was a de facto a fourth Indo-Pakistan war and the casualties suffered by the Indian army was greater than those of the 1965 and 1971 wars," he said.
India, he said, created a war hysteria to suit its own internal compulsions because of the upcoming national elections in that country whereas there was no such frenzy in Pakistan.
Mushahid said the entire scenario has changed after July 4 meeting between President Clinton and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington.Before that, he said, Pakistan was being threatened from various quarters and there were suggestions and proposals to punish Pakistan for becoming a nuclear state, stoppage of monetary aid and loans.
The minister told the editors that as many as 20 US senators have written to the US President to appoint as special envoy on Kashmir and ensure monitoring of the Line of Control by strengthening US military observers group for Pakistan and India.
A similar call, he said, has also been made by the British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.
He declared Pakistan will continue to extend moral and diplomatic support to the mujahideen. The PML government firmly believes that "Kashmir is the missing 'K' of Pakistan and the country would not be complete without it."
Mushahid Hussain said a human rights organization Asia Watch has urged the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to stop all kinds of aid to India because of its worst human right violations in Occupied Kashmir.
He said the US Congress has also taken initiative and Congressman Goodlink has presented resolution in this regard calling for the stoppage of US aid.
Another Congressman Owen called for UN to take up Kashmir issue while Congressman Townsend stated that India has become 'Yugoslavia' in reference to the human rights violations.
The Europe Union, the minister stated, has also come out with the clear-cut statement calling for the peaceful settlement of the issue while the British House of Common has also debated the Kashmir question.
"The environment has now changed. The pressure is on India and now we have to pursue that pressure through all available means particularly diplomacy," Mushahid said.
Mushahid Hussain also referred to the PTV programme 'Salute to the Kargil heroes' aired on Saturday evening and said sacrifices rendered by the Pakistan army in the defence of the motherland showed the deep commitment of Pakistan towards the cause of Kashmir.
Replying to a question, he said that there was complete harmony and coordination in various ministries of Pakistan government as well as between the government and Pakistan army.
Mushahid said that his visit to Markaz Dawatul Irshad had no connection with reference to the Kashmiri mujahideen. "It is purely a religious education institution", he said and added that no military training centre existed on Pakistani soil.
He said that Indian media had tried to dub Kashmiri freedom fighters as terrorists in order to malign their strive for the right to
self-determination.
"Kashmiris are not involved in terrorist activities; It is a fact of history that India has occupied the valley and denied Kashmiris their right of self-determination," Mushahid said.
He clarified that mujahideen were not under the control of Pakistan government which is providing only moral, political and diplomatic support to their cause.
Foreign Office spokesman Tariq Altaf said the Pakistan's case on Kashmir has been boosted and highlighted by the post July 4 devlopments and it received further support from ASEAN Conference being held in Singapore calling for the solution of Kashmir issue through dialogue.
Altaf said the realistic analysis of the Kargil conflict shows that India has lost both on the political and military fronts while it may
have achieved some success on the media forum.
He said wrong impression has been created that too, in local media, that Pakistan has failed to achieve its objectives.
Altaf said the scanning of the international Press through different resources have shown that Pakistan had succeeded in bringing the Kashmir issue on the world platform.
"We have achieved a great success on the political front and have also achieved our objective vis-a-vis Kashmir struggle," he said.
He said the Indians are continuously meting out brutalities to the Kashmiris yet the Kashmir struggle is alive and moving towards its purpose.
The Foreign Office official said a few hundred mujahideen occupying the heights in Kargil had been able to pin down thousands of Indian soldiers and scenes of conflict were brought to thousands of homes on television screens.
Tariq Altaf said the feedback Pakistan Foreign Office received through millions of despatches from across the globe showed that the Kashmir issue has been internationalized. Referring to June 12 visit of Sartaj Aziz to New Delhi, he said Pakistan had suggested ceasefire, demanding the stoppage of ground and air operations by the Indian forces followed by the cessation of hostilities, de-escalation and dialogues.
Praising the gallantry of Pakistani troops and Kashmiri mujahideen, he said that they had created new example of heroism and bravery.-
dil..dilseee
LAHORE, July 25: Pakistan has been able to effectively put across the Kashmir issue in the world fora through the Kargil conflict and the pressure is on India to resolve this question according to the wishes of the people of occupied Kashmir.
This was stated at a joint briefing on Sunday by Federal Information and Culture Minister Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary Tariq Altaf and Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General Brig Rashid Qureshi for the
editors and columnists of the Lahore dailies.
Mushahid Hussain said sound and sensible policies of the government have succeeded in ensuring the involvement of the United States for the solution of the Kashmir problem.
"The Kargil conflict has now shifted the pressure from Pakistan to India following the Washington Agreement," Mushahid said.
The military successes of the army and the achievements of mujahideen who occupied certain number of heights in Kargil sector greatly boosted political stance of both Pakistan and the Kashmiris, he said.
"The message that went through these gains was that unless the world community does not pressurise India to solve this lingering issue, Kashmir will remain a nuclear flashpoint," Mushahid asserted.
He said if today it is Kargil then tomorrow it could be Baramula or Dodha day after and the situation will continue to simmer if the Kashmir dispute is not resolved amicably.
"That is the basic message of Kargil," Mushahid said and added that the issue had been effectively internationalized which is a great success of Pakistan's foreign policy.
The minister said Pakistan succeeded in ensuring the involvement of USA while at the same time the Indian army were given a severe battering.
"It was a de facto a fourth Indo-Pakistan war and the casualties suffered by the Indian army was greater than those of the 1965 and 1971 wars," he said.
India, he said, created a war hysteria to suit its own internal compulsions because of the upcoming national elections in that country whereas there was no such frenzy in Pakistan.
Mushahid said the entire scenario has changed after July 4 meeting between President Clinton and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington.Before that, he said, Pakistan was being threatened from various quarters and there were suggestions and proposals to punish Pakistan for becoming a nuclear state, stoppage of monetary aid and loans.
The minister told the editors that as many as 20 US senators have written to the US President to appoint as special envoy on Kashmir and ensure monitoring of the Line of Control by strengthening US military observers group for Pakistan and India.
A similar call, he said, has also been made by the British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.
He declared Pakistan will continue to extend moral and diplomatic support to the mujahideen. The PML government firmly believes that "Kashmir is the missing 'K' of Pakistan and the country would not be complete without it."
Mushahid Hussain said a human rights organization Asia Watch has urged the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to stop all kinds of aid to India because of its worst human right violations in Occupied Kashmir.
He said the US Congress has also taken initiative and Congressman Goodlink has presented resolution in this regard calling for the stoppage of US aid.
Another Congressman Owen called for UN to take up Kashmir issue while Congressman Townsend stated that India has become 'Yugoslavia' in reference to the human rights violations.
The Europe Union, the minister stated, has also come out with the clear-cut statement calling for the peaceful settlement of the issue while the British House of Common has also debated the Kashmir question.
"The environment has now changed. The pressure is on India and now we have to pursue that pressure through all available means particularly diplomacy," Mushahid said.
Mushahid Hussain also referred to the PTV programme 'Salute to the Kargil heroes' aired on Saturday evening and said sacrifices rendered by the Pakistan army in the defence of the motherland showed the deep commitment of Pakistan towards the cause of Kashmir.
Replying to a question, he said that there was complete harmony and coordination in various ministries of Pakistan government as well as between the government and Pakistan army.
Mushahid said that his visit to Markaz Dawatul Irshad had no connection with reference to the Kashmiri mujahideen. "It is purely a religious education institution", he said and added that no military training centre existed on Pakistani soil.
He said that Indian media had tried to dub Kashmiri freedom fighters as terrorists in order to malign their strive for the right to
self-determination.
"Kashmiris are not involved in terrorist activities; It is a fact of history that India has occupied the valley and denied Kashmiris their right of self-determination," Mushahid said.
He clarified that mujahideen were not under the control of Pakistan government which is providing only moral, political and diplomatic support to their cause.
Foreign Office spokesman Tariq Altaf said the Pakistan's case on Kashmir has been boosted and highlighted by the post July 4 devlopments and it received further support from ASEAN Conference being held in Singapore calling for the solution of Kashmir issue through dialogue.
Altaf said the realistic analysis of the Kargil conflict shows that India has lost both on the political and military fronts while it may
have achieved some success on the media forum.
He said wrong impression has been created that too, in local media, that Pakistan has failed to achieve its objectives.
Altaf said the scanning of the international Press through different resources have shown that Pakistan had succeeded in bringing the Kashmir issue on the world platform.
"We have achieved a great success on the political front and have also achieved our objective vis-a-vis Kashmir struggle," he said.
He said the Indians are continuously meting out brutalities to the Kashmiris yet the Kashmir struggle is alive and moving towards its purpose.
The Foreign Office official said a few hundred mujahideen occupying the heights in Kargil had been able to pin down thousands of Indian soldiers and scenes of conflict were brought to thousands of homes on television screens.
Tariq Altaf said the feedback Pakistan Foreign Office received through millions of despatches from across the globe showed that the Kashmir issue has been internationalized. Referring to June 12 visit of Sartaj Aziz to New Delhi, he said Pakistan had suggested ceasefire, demanding the stoppage of ground and air operations by the Indian forces followed by the cessation of hostilities, de-escalation and dialogues.
Praising the gallantry of Pakistani troops and Kashmiri mujahideen, he said that they had created new example of heroism and bravery.-
dil..dilseee
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