As India and Pakistan prepare for resumption of the “full spectrum dialogue” from this month-end, Islamabad has decided to send a six-member team under the aegis of the Special Committee of the Parliament on Kashmir to Germany, Belgium and Poland to “win their support on the Kashmir issue”.
The visit was cleared by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the European Union is increasingly gaining political and economic importance in world affairs. The delegation will highlight the Kashmir issue and Pakistan’s “principled stance as supported historically by the United Nations Resolution”.
The delegation will be led by Special Committee chairman Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman and will include four other members of the National Assembly besides an unnamed Kashmiri leader from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
In a related development, addressing the Joint Session of Parliament on Tuesday, President Asif Ali Zardari said: “Full spectrum dialogue process has been resumed with India. We seek a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions while respecting the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has greeted the Pakistani nation on the occasion of the National Day that is celebrated on March 23 to mark the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution on this day in 1940. In his message which was sent to Mr. Gilani, Dr. Singh said: “We sincerely desire to have peaceful and cooperative relations between our two countries. We are committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through bilateral dialogue. I am hopeful that the current dialogue process would lead to peace, progress and prosperity of the entire region.”
