Pak may seek withdrawal of Armed Forces Act from Kashmir

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Jun 17 (PTI) Pakistan is expected to seek
the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
(AFSPA) in the northernmost Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
and the release of political prisoners to improve the ground
situation in Kashmir during the upcoming Foreign
Secretary-level talks, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
Senior Pakistani officials have broadly classified the
issues to be raised during the meeting of the two Foreign
Secretaries in Islamabad on June 24 into four categories.
These include outstanding issues like the Kashmir
territorial dispute, humanitarian matters like the release of
prisoners and fishermen, terrorism and trade and commerce,
sources told PTI.
The Pakistani side will press for strengthening of
confidence-building measures in these areas so that the two
sides can ultimately make headway in addressing issues that
have bedevilled relations for many decades, they said.
There are indications that the Pakistani side could
ask for the withdrawal of the AFSP Act in Jammu and Kashmir on
the ground that the security forces have been involved in
human rights violations.
Islamabad is also expected to seek the release of the
release of political prisoners to improve the ground situation
in Jammu and Kashmir when Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir
meets his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao.
The Foreign Secretaries will prepare the ground for a
meeting between India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna
and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi here on
July 15.
The sources also said there is a realisation at the
highest levels of the Foreign Office of the need to lower
tensions in the region while at the same time preventing any
further deterioration of bilateral relations.
In this regard, the two sides are expected to discuss
ways to improve cooperation in countering terrorism, the
sources added.
There is a feeling in the Pakistani leadership that
there is a need to upgrade the existing Joint Anti-Terrorism
Mechanism, which was set up in 2006.
Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit
Thursday said Pakistan wants to firm up Confidence Building
Measures at the upcoming foreign secretary level talks to
bridge the trust defecit with India.
"Pakistan has always been promoting the cause of peace
and stability in South Asia and we are keenly looking forward
to our engagement with India with a view to promoting this
cause in the interest of peace and prosperity in our region,"
Basit told a weekly briefing.
"We hope that this engagement should be a sustained
and purposeful engagement (and it) should address all these
issues so that we bridge this trust deficit," he said. MORE
PTI RHL
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