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Official Spokesperson:
Good
Evening. We have seen press reports of remarks
attributed to Mr.Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri, Foreign
Minister of Pakistan, concerning the terrorist bomb
blasts which took place in Mumbai on July 11.
We find it appalling that Foreign Minister Kasuri
should seek to link this blatant and inhuman act of
terror against innocent men, women and children to
the so called lack of resolution of disputes between
India and Pakistan. His remarks appear to suggest
that Pakistan will cooperate with India against the
scourge of cross-border terrorism and terrorist
violence only if such so called disputes are
resolved. Terrorism cannot be tolerated on any
grounds whatsoever, and no cause justifies the
murder of innocent people. We would hope that the
Government of Pakistan rejects any such linkage and
joins hands together with India to defeat the forces
of terrorism, based on an ideology of extremism and
violence. We would urge Pakistan to take urgent
steps to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism
on the territory under its control, act resolutely
against groups and individuals, who are responsible
for terrorist violence and fulfill its solemn
commitments enshrined in the India-Pakistan Joint
Press Statement of January 6, 2004.
We have seen media reports regarding the elections
held on 11 July 2006 in what Pakistan calls “Azad
Jammu and Kashmir”. Once again the entire exercise
shows the lack of credibility of the electoral
process in the so-called “AJK”. Earlier, nominations
of 30 out of 31 candidates of the pro-independence
Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front – Amanullah Khan (JKLF)
were rejected after they refused to sign the
declaration of Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. The
“AJK” Election Commission also rejected 30
nominations of the All Party National Alliance, a
coalition of other pro-independence parties of Jammu
and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Besides disqualifying all
political parties and candidates who failed to meet
the condition of declaring their allegiance to the
accession of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan from
contesting the elections, Pakistan has also not
allowed international observers to monitor the
election process. These elections can, therefore,
neither be called free and fair nor an exercise in
self-governance.
The 14-member “AJK” Council, the upper house of the
AJK Parliament, is headed by the Pakistan Prime
Minister as Chairman and the “AJK” President as
Vice-Chairman. Islamabad nominates five members to
the Council from the Members of the Pakistan
National Assembly and there are three ex-officio
members. The Chairman, along with these federal
nominees, gives the Government of Pakistan a
majority in the Council as, of the 14 members, there
are only six members elected through the “AJK”
Assembly. Real power thus, rests with the officials
of Pakistan and the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs in
Islamabad.
The situation in Gilgit-Baltistan, the other part of
Pakistan occupied Kashmir, is even worse as it has
never had even a semblance of representative
institutions. Elections have never been held in
these areas and the residents do not enjoy the basic
political right to vote.
Some developments also
related to the Thar Express, which you know has
started with an average of 200 passengers per
service and increased in popularity to carry about
700 passengers each way. Under an agreement, there
were 7 coaches which could go up to 10 coaches by
mutual consent. However, unfortunately, the
Government of Pakistan has requested that due to
infrastructure constraints, they are unable to
handle the growing number of passengers at Zero
Point station in Pakistan, and we should only run
this train with 7 coaches. Naturally, this will
limit the number of passengers that can be
accommodated in this train to 400 per trip, and
therefore from July 21 onwards, the Thar Express
will only have 7 coaches. It will not carry more
than 400 passengers a week each way, and naturally
the issuance of tickets will also be restricted to
this number.
Question:
Are the
Foreign Secretary Level talks still on track?
Official Spokesperson: I do not have any
announcement on the dates as yet.
Question: Will this have an impact on the
CBMs?
Official Spokesperson: I think I have given
you a detailed enough briefing. Any interpretation
is yours.
Question: Are these talks scheduled for July
21?
Official Spokesperson: As I said, I don’t
have any announcement regarding the dates.
Question: As far as the statement is
concerned, on the Mumbai blasts, you have spoken
again of the need for the dismantling of the
infrastructure of terrorism. Does India believe that
the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan is
related to the carnage in Mumbai?
Official Spokesperson: On the specific
operations regarding yesterday, the relevant
agencies are doing their work and no doubt the
results will be made available.
Thank You.
New Delhi,
July 12, 2006 |
