PoK leader asks Pak govt to put Kashmir issue on hold

Pak govt has been advised not to link ongoing negotiations with India to resolution of the Kashmir issue.

In a major policy shift,the PoK 8216;Prime Minister8217; has advised Pakistan government not to link ongoing negotiations with India to resolution of the Kashmir issue,saying this is not the right time as Islamabad8217;s position is 8220;quite weak8221; due to 8220;internal vulnerabilities8221;.

Raja Farooq Haider suggested that Pakistan should first resolve 8220;small irritants and controversial issues8221; before finally sorting out the 8220;core issue of Kashmir.8221;

He told 8216;The News8217; daily that Pakistan and India should maintain status quo on Kashmir for 8220;some time.8221;

He said he believed that India and Pakistan 8220;should resolve other issues before taking up Kashmir.8221;

It would be 8220;wiser for Pakistan to wait for the right time to restart negotiations8221; on the Kashmir issue,Haider said.

He explained that he was giving this advice because he believed 8220;this was not the right time for Pakistan to press for a Kashmir settlement.8221;

At the moment,Pakistan is facing a 8220;formidable security challenge from the militants8221; and is not in a position to effectively fight the case of Kashmir,he added.

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Haider said that his comments did not mean a 8220;reversal of Pakistan8217;s traditional stand on Kashmir,as many emotional people might instantly try to infer.8221;

8220;What I am trying to suggest is that this is not the right time to negotiate Kashmir with the Indians as Islamabad8217;s position is obviously quite weak because of its internal vulnerabilities,8221; he said.

Asked about former military ruler Pervez Musharraf8217;s four-point proposal to resolve the Kashmir issue,Haider said no Kashmiri would have accepted it.

Haider backed the proposal to give the status of Most Favoured Nation MFN to India and to allow the country to use Pakistani territory as a transit route for trade,including with Afghanistan.

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He also strongly backed India8217;s inclusion in the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project.

However,he contended that the Pakistani media is not giving importance to the current protest in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Pakistan government has been insisting that efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue must be made part of any dialogue with India.

On the other hand,India has said it favours a phased approach to the resumption of the talks process.

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India has also granted MFN status to Pakistan,which is yet to reciprocate.