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Pakistan, India stick to their stand on Kashmir

IRNA

Islamabad, Jan 4, IRNA -- Despite relaxation of tension between India 
and Pakistan, both countries seem unmoved over their stand on the 
disputed issue of Kashmir. 
Pakistan Sunday reacted to televised remarks of the Indian Prime 
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, stressing that Kashmir was not an 
"inseparable part" of India. 
"Kashmir is not an inseparable part of India," Pakistan`s Foreign 
Office Spokesman Masood Khan told a press briefing here on the 
sidelines of the 12th Summit of South Asian Association of Regional 
Cooperation (SAARC). 
He said Kashmir is still a "disputed region" between India and 
Pakistan. "This issue should be settled through peaceful means and 
on the basis of aspirations of Kashmiris." 
According to Masood Khan, holding comprehensive talks on the issue
of Kashmir will serve interests of both the Islamabad and New Delhi. 
Vajpayee had said in an interview with PTV aired on Saturday prior
o his departure to Islamabad that though New Delhi sticks to its stand
Jammu and Kashmir is part of India, it was ready for an open dialogue 
on Kashmir. 
There has not been a comprehensive dialogue on Kashmir and both 
the countries had been reiterating their stands, he added. 
The spokesman termed Sunday`s meeting between the Indian premier 
and Pakistanai Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali a positive 
development adding that Vajpayee will meet President General Pervez 
Musharraf on Monday. 
"Indian prime minister has requested a meeting with President 
Pervez Musharraf and it will take place sometime tomorrow," Masood 
Khan told reporters. 
To a question about the agenda, he said "let`s wait till after the
meeting and not speculate on the agenda". 
Indian Minister for External Affairs Yashwant Sinha told reporters
in Islamabad that the meeting will be held on the side of the SAARC 
summit. 
Prime Minister Vajpayee in a PTV interview on Saturday hinted to 
meet President Musharraf. 
India had earlier stated that there would be no bilateral meetings
with Pakistani leaders during the three-day summit of SAARC that began
in Islamabad on Sunday. 
The Indian prime minister held a meeting with Pakistani premier 
Jamali after the inaugural session of the SAARC summit. 
Indian officials described Vajpayee-Jamali meeting as a "courtesy 
call". 
TSH/AA/210 
End