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PoK leaders back Musharraf on summit

K J M Varma in Islamabad

President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan said on Thursday that the bedrock of his talks with India would be the aspirations of the people of Kashmir as no solution to the problem was possible without taking them into account.

"The issue of Kashmir is not just an issue of territory, but also a serious question of their [the Kashmiris'] right to self-determination and other fundamental human rights," he said at a meeting with leaders of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as well as Kashmiri leaders from abroad.

Twenty leaders of the PoK government and political parties from the region attended the three-hour meeting convened by Musharraf to discuss his forthcoming summit with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

PoK Prime Minister Sultan Mehmood Chowdhary said after the meeting that PoK leaders "have extended full backing to Musharraf for his India visit.

"There was also general consensus that Musharraf would forcefully represent the views of Kashmiris at the summit."

Those who met Musharraf included leaders of the Pakistan chapter of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference and Farida Behanji, a Kashmiri politician from Srinagar who is on a tour of Pakistan.

During the meeting, Musharraf said Pakistanis and Kashmiris were one as far as the struggle for the latter's right to self-determination was concerned, official media reported.

"Kashmiri people should never feel that they are alone in the struggle," Musharraf was quoted as saying.

Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, former president and prime minister of PoK and leader of the PoK's Muslim Conference, said he told Musharraf that his visit to India should be seen as a golden opportunity to resolve the Kashmir problem.

He said a breakthrough could be expected as both governments were in a good position to solve the problem. But if the summit ended in failure it would be 'political suicide'.

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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