Backdoor diplomacy can not resolve Kashmir issue : PoK PM

PESHAWAR - Stressing that the people of the region must be made part of any negotiations over the long pending Kashmir issue, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Prime Minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider has said that backdoor diplomacy can not be seen as a viable means to settle the issue.

“It’s not a corporate deal between two stakeholders rather question of the future of 150 million Kashmiris, who must necessarily be made part of negotiations,” The Daily Times quoted Haider, as saying.

Criticising former President General Pervez Musharraf, he said the general had inflicted ‘colossal loss’ to the Kashmir cause by sidelining from the United Nations resolution on Kashmir.

Haider suggested that all political parties, who have their members in Parliament should devise a policy on Kashmir, which would have the backing of the people of the country.

Commenting on the recent terror incidents in the region, Haider said denied the presence of any local network of Al Qaeda or Taliban in the region, but said that some militants s might have ntered Kashmir after being pushed out from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and other tribal areas during military operations. (ANI)