Pakistan to highlight Kashmir, Indian interference at UN: Aziz

Islamabad, Sep 17: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will raise the Kashmir issue and alleged Indian interference in the country at the UN General Assembly's upcoming session later this month, a top official said today.

"Pakistan will highlight the Kashmir issue at the UN and other fora as bilateralism envisaged in Shimla Agreement failed to achieve any progress," Prime Minister's Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said today. He briefed the Senate about the issues to be raised during Sharif's visit to New York to attend the annual session of UN General Assembly later this month.

Aziz said that Pakistan for the first time had prepared a dossier regarding alleged Indian interference in the country which would be taken to the United Nations for presentation. "India accuses non-state actors of Pakistan but here it is an issue of state actors interfering in Pakistan," he said.

He insisted that Pakistan will not seek a meeting of the Prime Ministers as India cancelled the talks and any proposal for a meeting should come from New Delhi. Aziz said that whenever talks will be held with India, Kashmir would part of the discussion.

He said talks would be held on all issue of bilateral concern and not on the selected ones picked by India. "Jammu and Kashmir is core issue between the two countries," he said. He said that Pakistan has conveyed to India that it will not entertain objections to meetings with separatist Kashmiri leaders as they are stakeholders in the dispute.

He warned about threat to strategic balance in South Asia and said that Pakistan has told the US that it should keep in view the conventional and non-conventional imbalance in the region while entering into any defence cooperation with India.

Aziz also defended cooperation with China which he said was aimed at development of the country. He rejected India's objection to Pak-China Economic Corridor and said Pakistan can safeguard its interests. Aziz said Pakistan and India agreed during recent meeting between top officials of Rangers and Border Security Force to observe the 2003 ceasefire agreement but India has backed out and was again violating it.

PTI