Pressure must be applied for real talks on the disputed region, a Pakistani official tells Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
The international community should put pressure on India to discuss the Kashmir issue with its neighbour Pakistan, the leader of a visiting delegation of Pakistani parliamentarians said in Dublin at the weekend.
Former government minister Hamid Nasir Chattha is chair of a special parliamentary committee which lobbies worldwide on the Kashmir issue. Most of Kashmir is under Indian rule but Pakistan believes a plebiscite should be held on the future of the region.
"The mandate of our committee is that we should go around the world telling the international community about the plight of the people of Kashmir and requesting them to use their influence over India so that India would sit across the table and talk seriously about Kashmir," Mr Chattha told The Irish Times.
The two nuclear powers have gone to war in the past but nowadays hold face-to-face meetings: "We are sitting across the table but we are not talking about Kashmir and that's the core issue." The delegation's three-day visit included meetings with Seanad cathaoirleach Rory Kiely, chair of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee Dr Michael Woods, and president of the Human Rights Commission Maurice Manning, as well as visits to Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, the Chester Beatty Library and Dublin City University.
Mr Chattha's committee is requesting all parliaments around the world to send delegations to both the Indian and Pakistani regions of Kashmir, "so that they can see for themselves the situation as it is on the ground, especially with reference to human rights, because this is no longer a quarrel over real estate, this is a question of the future and the rights of 13 million Kashmiris".
The Pakistani region of Kashmir was hit by a massive earthquake last October which caused widespread destruction and huge loss of life. "We have, from March 15th this year, moved on from the relief to the rehabilitation stage," Mr Chattha said. "This is going to take more than a year to complete because the damage is really extensive to the roads, schools and hospitals." The schools and hospitals will all have to be rebuilt - "they can't be repaired".
"We are quite happy with the way the international community has responded to this disaster but, in the final analysis, you will have to admit that it is the people of Kashmir and the government of Pakistan which have to stand on their own feet."
Praising the Irish contribution, Mr Chattha said: "I am very happy with it - not only in terms of money, Ireland sent a lot of people. Some of them are still there, doing very useful work."