Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan said that the status quo on Kashmir was unacceptable to Pakistan as progress on other issues with India was impossible unless this core issue is resolved. Speaking at the Japan Institute of International Affairs on ‘The situation in and around South Asia and future prospects for the South Asian region,’ the Prime Minister said resolution of the Kashmir issue would lead to peace and progress in the region. Kashmiris must get an opportunity to decide their future and any solution must reflect their aspirations. The three stakeholders should try to negotiate a solution.

The Prime Minister also responded to questions from the audience on China’s role in the Gwadar port plan, the nuclear program, the Pakistan-India peace process, terrorism, the Kashmir issue and misconceptions about Islam. He said Pakistan and India would have to make sincere efforts to overcome distrust and resolve the Kashmir problem squarely and in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people instead of trying to push it to the back burner.

Shaukat Aziz said that a number of confidence-building measures had been agreed upon by Pakistan and India and the situation was improving. About Chinese involvement in the Gwadar port project, he stated that the port was a purely commercial project and was being built to meet the future needs of the country. For the last 20 years Pakistan had been trying to develop a third port, but could not do so due to lack of funds. On the request of President Pervez Musharraf the former Chinese Prime Minister agreed to fund the project when it was found commercially and economically feasible. It is not a defense project and defense has never been a factor in its development. It has three berths to serve the needs of Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics. Speculations about any defense facility in Gwadar were not correct, he added.

When asked how could he speak about a strict command and control regime for the nuclear program when General Pervez Musharraf simultaneously held the offices of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, the Prime Minister said parliament had allowed General Musharraf to assume the office of President in the national interest but had also constituted a command and control authority comprising the President, the Prime Minister, elected ministers and key armed forces personnel. He said that the speculations about Pakistan’s nuclear assets falling into foreign or terrorist hands were baseless because there was a comprehensive system of checks and balances with strict controls. Then he spoke at length about prospects for South Asia. He said that Pakistan was determined to play its role by fostering better understanding and cooperation with all countries of the region.

Referring to the 60th anniversary of the dropping of a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, the Prime Minister termed the tragedy a scar on mankind’s collective conscience. He emphasized that Pakistan was committed to the cause of nuclear non-proliferation. He reminded Japanese intellectuals that Pakistan was a reluctant entrant into the nuclear club. It was forced to go nuclear due to security concerns caused by India’s atomic explosions. However, Pakistan supported nuclear and conventional restraint and avoided an arms race in South Asia. Pakistan had offered India a strategic restraint regime, shared concerns with Japan and wanted the Korean Peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons.

The Prime Minister said international terrorism in Pakistan’s neighborhood dated back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After Soviet troops withdrew, 20,000 to 30,000 foreign mujahideen brought during the 1980s to fight the Soviet occupation joined Al Qaeda during the 1990s with their own agenda. He called for addressing the root causes of terrorism to make the world safe. In this connection, he called for dealing with the Middle East and Kashmir issues. He stressed that extremism and terrorism bred in an environment of humiliation and deprivation caused by denial of freedom and justice.

Note: It would be foolish to assume that solving the Kashmir problem according to Pakistan’s wishes or “dealing with the Middle East” by giving the Palestinians all or most of what they want will end Moslem terrorism. It is more likely to encourage terrorism, which will be credited by the Moslem masses for bringing about these achievements.