Pakistan ready to pullout troops from PoK: Minister

Islamabad, Mar 11 (UNI) Pakistan has said it was ready to withdraw troops from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) if India also agrees to withdraw forces from Jammu and Kashmir.

''Pakistan's proposals of demilitarisation and self-governance can prove to be a major CBM and will provide space to the leadership of the two countries to carry forward their ideas,'' the News quoted Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmud Kasuri as saying at a dinner at the Foreign Office yesterday for the participants of an international conference by Washington-based Pugwash think-tank.

Advocating the need for a durable peace in the region, Mr Kasuri said ''as advocate of the cause of the Kashmiri people, Pakistan enjoys goodwill of the Kashmiris and is ready to use its influence to facilitate resolution of the vexed issue.'' The three-day conference is organised by Pugwash, a European Nobel prize winning think-tank engaged in finding solution to contentious issues in South Asia.

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