Pak PM equates Kashmir with Palestine

Islamabad: Peace will remain elusive in South Asia and the Middle East unless the issues of Kashmir and Palestine are resolved, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday.

Gilani made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Prime Minister's House.

The resolution of the Palestine issue "finds resonance in the just and peaceful struggle of Kashmiri people for self-determination," Gilani claimed.

"People of Palestine and occupied Kashmir are fighting for their just right of self-determination," he said.

Gilani assured Abbas that Pakistan will persist in its support for safeguarding and promoting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.

Pakistan will continue to have a principled stance of absolute support to the Palestinian people for their right to self-determination and a sovereign state, he added.

Pakistan wants the total withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem, stoppage of all measures like construction of settlements and a separation wall, excavation beneath the Al-Aqsa mosque and eviction of Palestinians from their homes, Gilani said.

Gilani also expressed disappointment at the current stalemate in the Middle East peace process. He said peace will remain elusive in the two regions unless Kashmir and Palestine issues are resolved.

Gilani said the Middle East deadlock has implications for peace in the region and beyond.

Both leaders agreed that their countries should persist with their coordination at international forums and consult each other on a regular basis for fostering a common strategy for realisation of a Palestinian state.

In a separate meeting with Abbas, President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan will continue to extend unequivocal and unreserved support to Palestinian people for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

"Pakistan believes that peace will remain elusive in the Middle East unless the Palestinian problem is resolved," Zardari said.

He also said that Pakistan favours "an early settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of two-state solution" and supports all efforts to resolve the dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.