KASHMIR

Motion Text

That this House welcomes the remarks made by the Prime Minister in Pakistan on 14th January that 'there are three essential parties to a solution to the Kashmir issue: the government of Pakistan, the government of India and the people themselves who live in Kashmir', endorsing in particular his recognition that Kashmiris themselves must be a party to resolving the dispute; notes that in the deeply-flawed elections of September 1996, held in Kashmir in the presence of several hundred thousand Indian troops, candidates supporting constitutional change for Kashmir could not participate; and declares that a lasting resolution will only be possible when the people of Kashmir have been able freely to express their own aspirations for the political and constitutional status of their homeland.