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Pak welcomes Manmohan Singh's `visionary' Kashmir offer | Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that his country welcomed the speech given
by Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. On the sidelines of the CICA Asia summit here, Qureshi
said: "I think the speech made by Prime Minister Manmohan singh was a very visionary
speech. I welcome that speech in Kashmir and I think its a good offer we should
welcome it." It maybe recalled, that on Monday, Prime Minister Singh said that
he and his government was ready to talk to any separatist group that showed a
willingness to give up violence and the use of guns. Addressing a public gathering
at the Sher-e-Kashmir Agricultural University in Srinagar on the first day of
his two-day visit, Dr. Singh categorically said that he was not ready to talk
to any group that backs terror. He further said that he was committed to ushering
an atmosphere of peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir. During the course of
his address, the Prime Minister said that he would review the progress in the
Round Table peace initiative and development work being undertaken in the state.
The Prime Minister also said that he was aware of some complaints related to human
rights, and had asked the security forces deployed in the region to ensure protection
of these rights. "I am aware of some complaints related to human rights. On this
issue, the government policy is to protect the human rights of the people even
when dealing with terrorism," Dr. Singh said. "The security forces in Jammu and
Kashmir have been strictly instructed to respect the rights of the civilians.
We will act to remove any deficiency in the implementation of these instructions,"
he added. Reiterating that there were some elements and organizations only interested
in fomenting trouble in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Singh praised the
armed forces, and particularly the Army, for defending the country's borders.
The Prime Minister backed the Army's role, saying that it was doing a good job
in defending the nation's frontiers. He said the army has been forced to take
action against elements who were determined to create instability in the state,
including infiltrators. He candidly admitted that in the process of this aggressive
response to terror, innocents got trapped. He said that his government is committed
to promoting peace in Jammu and Kashmir, and ready to talk to any group that abjured
violence. It was Dr. Singh's second visit to Jammu and Kashmir after being re-elected
as Prime Minister for a second consecutive term in the Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) Government. He visited Srinagar in last October. |
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