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Pakistan breaks détente, raises Kashmir at NAM

Showing utter disregard for NAM principles, Pakistan on Thursday raked up the Kashmir issue at its 12th summit, stating that the unresolved problem is a major cause of tension and instability and has led to new dangers in the South Asian region.''

''We are afraid that the lack of progress on the Kashmir issue would lead to a further deterioration in the security environment in the South Asian region,'' Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said in his address at the summit.

The issue was raised by Islamabad barely ten hours after the foreign secretaries of the two countries agreed to give the required push to the process of resumption of the official-level dialogue.

Aziz also accused India of triggering off a nuclear race in the region.

''It was imposed on us by India's provocative nuclear tests. By abandoning all restraint, India shattered the strategic balance in the region,'' he said.

The Pakistani foreign minister, who held meetings with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje on steps to improve the bilateral ties, said New Delhi was ''flaunting its new found power of nuclear blackmail and belligerence.''

''Pakistan was left with no option but to respond in order to safeguard and restore the balance and to prevent any misadventure on the part of our neighbour,'' he said.

Aziz said the Kashmir issue, "which involves the destiny of the people", cannot be wished away. "The people of Kashmir must be given the right of self-determination, which has been denied to them for the past fifty years.''

The NAM has held the inalienable right of self-determination to be an article of its faith and ''it must uphold the same principle for the oppressed people of Kashmir,'' he added.

Aziz said Pakistan had always sought a just and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue. Only last year Pakistan initiated a dialogue with India to address this problem and all other outstanding issues in a purposeful manner.

''We are afraid that the lack of progress on Kashmir would lead to further deterioration in the security environment of South Asia, which has now acquired a nuclear dimension,'' he added.

Referring to nuclear disarmament, the foreign minister said Pakistan remains committed to it in the regional and global context. ''We also remain committed to the avoidance of conflict, mutual restrain and stabilisation in the nuclear and conventional fields and the prevention of arms race in the region.''

He said Pakistan was ready to take steps with India to assure peaceful and security in the region.

The foreign minister criticised economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan following its nuclear tests, saying punitive actions against Islamabad were unjust. ''This is all the more so when the movement has proclaimed itself against economic pressures and sanctions, which stand in blatant disregard of the UN charter.''

On the financial crisis that has gripped several Asian states, Aziz said it had the potential to severely disrupt the global economy and required a dispassionate analysis of the effects of new economic phenomenon for the developing countries.

UNI

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