Simla Agreement no substitute for UN resolutions: PML-N

Kashmir is not an integral part of India. The dispute is still alive on the UN agenda, says Party chairman

Pakistan's ruling PML-N party today said the Simla Agreement cannot be taken as a substitute for UN resolutions on holding a plebiscite in the entire Jammu and Kashmir region.

"Kashmir is not an integral part of India. The dispute is still alive on the UN agenda," said PML-N chairman Raja Zafrul Haq, widely considered to be a hardliner.

Addressing a news conference here, Haq said the Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with the resolutions.

"With a neutral administration in place, the people in the entire Jammu and Kashmir should be given the choice to decide their future," he said. He accused India of creating confusion about the UN resolutions.

Haq's remarks came a day after Pakistan expressed disappointment over India's leadership referring to Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of the country.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said the Kashmir dispute remained a "core issue" with India. It criticised External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's remarks on the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

After Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought US intervention to settle the Kashmir issue over the weekend, Khurshid made it clear that no one should question state's status as an integral part of India.

Sharif's remarks on Kashmir came ahead of a meeting with US President Barack Obama tomorrow, during which India-Pakistan ties are likely to be discussed.

The news conference was called to espouse the PML-N's stand on the Kashmir issue and to counter Khurshid's assertion that Kashmir is a bilateral issue under the Simla Agreement.

"We do not agree to this point," Haq said, adding that Khurshid is a capable and nice person.

UN resolutions passed before the Simla Agreement cannot be revoked and remained valid as their status was still the same, he said.

Haq said both countries agreed in the Simla accord to resolve matters through dialogue. The Kashmir issue was also mentioned in the Lahore Declaration of 1999, in which both sides agreed to peacefully resolve all issues, he said.