Pak back to singing 'jaded' UN resolutions-for-K-settlement tune

Islamabad, Nov.24 (ANI): Pakistan has once again raked up the issue of Kashmir, saying that it should be resolved in accordance with the United Nations resolutions of 1948 and 1949.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and that the settlement of issues should be according to the aspirations of the Kashmiris and the UN resolutions.

"India is only one of the parties to the dispute; it cannot, therefore, unilaterally change the status of the dispute or place preconditions in open contradiction to the right of self-determination of Kashmiris," The News quoted Basit, as saying.

Basit's statement was in response to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's remarks that there is no question of New Delhi redrawing the international boundary that separates Indian Kashmir and POK.

In an interview given to the Editor of Newsweek International, Fareed Zakaria, in CNN's Global Public Square (GPS), Dr. Singh said: "I have publicly stated that there will be no redrawing of public borders. Our two countries can work together to ensure that peace is maintained, that trade is made free and ensure that encouragement is given for more people-to-people contact."

He said India's stance on the so-called Kashmir issue was well known and well illustrated and there was really no need to elaborate on it further. The reality was that both Pakistan and India needed to work together to promote peace and encourage trade and people-to-people interaction in the region in the best way possible under the prevailing situation and context.

India's official position is that Kashmir is an 'integral part' of India, while Pakistan maintains that Kashmir is a disputed territory whose final status must be determined by the people of the region and under the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949. (ANI)