American mediation on Kashmir not demand just a wish: Aziz

Washington, Oct 24: Rebuffed by the Obama administration on its effort to seek US intervention on Kashmir, Pakistan has said that it has never made such a "demand" and just presented its wish list to Americans on the issue.

"He (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) said international community should note that (India-Pakistan) bilateral talks (on Kashmir) have not worked. We wish to have third party mediation, but we have not demanded it from the United States," Pakistan's outgoing National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz said.

In a press interaction with Pakistani media, Aziz was responding to questions on the statement made by the US in which it ruled out any meditation effort unless both India and Pakistan ask for it.

Aziz refuted reports that Pakistan has "sought mediation" from the US on resolving disputes between India and Pakistan. "Under Shimla Accord it was decided that India and Pakistan would resolve their disputes bilaterally.

Such a bilateral talks has not yielded any results for the last 40 years. So then what is the solution?" he asked. "Sharif in his address to the United Nations General Assembly said that since the bilateral process is not working, the international community should take note of the increasing tension between the two countries and increased firing on the Line of Control.

"It is not only an issue of Kashmir, it is also a threat to regional security," Aziz said. However, he acknowledged that there is unlikely to be a third party meditation on Kashmir.

"There could be international pressure," he added. Aziz claimed that Sharif never asked for an American meditation. "But our concerns have been addressed by the US in the joint statement that Kashmir dispute needs to be addressed," he claimed.

Aziz said the mention of Kashmir and its resolution in the joint statement is a very significant development. "The joint statement describes Kashmir as a dispute, not an issue.

This is significant because US in this statement has agreed that Kashmir is a dispute, previously it was an issue. This is an important signal to India," he said in response to a question.

PTI