Pakistan's future linked to resolution of K-issue: Gilani

Islamabad, Jun 23: A day ahead of the crucial India-Pakistan talks that will feature the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday, Jun 22 said his country's future was "closely linked with the resolution of the Kashmir dispute".

Gilani made the remarks while addressing a public gathering at Bagh in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where he was campaigning for his Pakistan People's Party ahead of elections to the local assembly.

The premier assured the Kashmiri people of his government's "complete political and diplomatic support" till they attained "complete freedom".

He claimed that the people of Pakistan and PoK were "two bodies and one soul in real terms" and have complete understanding on religious, cultural, ethnic, historical and geographical commonalities.

Describing the Kashmiris and the Pakistani people "as an integral part of each other", Gilani said the resolution of the "Kashmir dispute" was at the core of the creation of PPP.

Late former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto laid the foundation of the PPP as he had differences with military ruler Gen Ayub Khan on the issue of Kashmir.

Gilani recalled that Bhutto had vowed to wage a thousand-year war to liberate Kashmir.

The people of Pakistan are fully aware of the problems and difficulties of Kashmiris living across the Line of Control (LoC) and Pakistan will "continue its political and diplomatic support till their complete freedom", he said.

PTI