Pak PM Gilani flags Kashmir issue ahead of Foreign Secretary level talks

Islamabad, June 23(ANI): Even as Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan were discussing confidence building measures about peace and security in the Foreign Office in Islamabad, Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that Kashmir was the "jugular vein of Pakistan".

While addressing a rally in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), Gilani assured Kashmiris complete political, diplomatic and moral support.

"We will like to apprise the world that the people of Pakistan stand by their Kashmiri brethren and support their cause," the Pakistani Prime Minister said.

The Minister for Kashmir Affairs Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo and 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir' President Raja Zulqarnain Khan and former 'AJK Prime Minister' Sardar Yaqoob accompanied Gilani.

Gilani said that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute was at the core of the creation of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and it would be central to the future of Pakistan.

He said that the Kashmiris and Pakistanis were integral part of each other.

Indian and Pakistani Foreign Secretaries-Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir-will discus the issue of Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow.

While Pakistan sees this as the 'core issue' between the two countries, India feels that it is terrorism that bogs peace and security of the two countries.

Earlier, speaking to the media at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, state Foreign Minister (soon to be a full fledged minister) Hina Rabbani Khar had said that it was Kashmir that was the core issue between India and Pakistan, and if that was not clear to the people, not much headway could be made.

"Kashmir is the core issue that divides the two countries...after all isn't that clear and can't we both agree on that. As far as terrorism is concerned, we are willing to address it, as it is something that is affecting the entire region. It is time we have a pragmatic approach towards these talks and not get stuck on status quo," Khar had said.

Noted columnist and member of the National Assembly, Ayaz Amir, had said that the India-Pakistan peace process has been held hostage to narrow thinking of its bureaucrats and even its leaders.

He said that Kashmir was an issue that was clearly very close to the Pakistani heart. If India, as the larger country of the two, could make some concessions on Kashmir, it would go a long way in building confidence on the Pakistani side and reduce the level of suspicion that Pakistanis have towards India. By Smita Prakash (ANI)