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BEIJING (China): Pakistan will not accept Line of Control (LoC) as permanent border, said ex-Foreign Minister Agha Shahi.

Addressing the International Seminar on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, held in Beijing on Tuesday, he said, "Turning the Line of Control into a permanent border would not be an equitable solution to the Kashmir problem."

Such a proposal is unacceptable, he said adding, "Unlike real estate or territorial disputes, Kashmir relates to the right of self-determination of the twelve million Kashmiris, pledged to them both Pakistan and India and consecrated by the international community itself.

The Moot

The seminar was attended by over 100 politicians, scholars and experts from China and 12 other countries

The participants included former Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen, former Indian President Raman Narayanan, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, former UN Secretary-General Butros Butros-Ghali, former US secretaries of state Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, and former Australian Prime Minister Robert James Lee Hawke.

Pakistan's delegation at the seminar included Pakistan Ambassador to China Riaz Mohammad Khan and former ambassador Dr. Maqbool Ahmed Bhatty.

Call for end to Hostilities

Conference's sources say that the participants emphasised that the regional countries should end their hostility and resolve dispute by adopting five-principles of peaceful co-existence.

Agha Shahi in his keynote address said that in South Asia, adherence by India and Pakistan to a bilateral pact committing themselves to the Five Principles would provide a conducive environment for normalization of their bilateral
relations.

The Way-Out

He said rejection of hegemonism and process of dialogue could lead to a solution acceptable to Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir. He pointed out that long-standing issue of Kashmir continues to pose a moral and political challenge to the international community.

Agha Shahi suggested that a resumed dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve their outstanding differences and disputes must also explore confidence and security-building measures.

"A nuclear restraint and a nuclear risk-reduction regime should form part of the agenda," he said adding, "It would be prudent in this situation to keep warheads unassembled and separated from missiles, not mounted for immediate firing. However, verification presents a difficulty."

The former minister said there is some talk of making the respective nuclear doctrine mutually compatible, but asymmetry in conventional armaments makes doubtful a no-first use nuclear doctrine accord. A mutual non-aggression pact would be a more feasible CBM, he added.

Aftermath of Nine/Eleven

Referring to aftermath of 9/11, Agha Shahi said Pakistan is in the vanguard of the war on international terrorism. It is pledged to preventing extremism and terrorism, operating from its soil.

He told the participants of the seminar that President Pervez Musharraf has introduced a two-pronged strategy to combat religious militancy and extremism in some countries of the Muslim World. One prong to shun militancy and extremism and focus on socio-economic uplift to be delivered by the Muslim countries themselves.

The other prong is to be delivered by the West, the US in particular to resolve the political disputes with justice to the Muslim World. President Musharraf cites inter-alia the Kashmir freedom struggle and Palestine intifada as examples of injustice," he added.

Pak-China Friendship

About the Pak-China friendship, Shahi said the observance of the Five Principles has generated the deep understanding and mutual trust that characterizes their relations.

The Boundary Agreement of 1963 delimiting the watershed of the majestic Karakorum Mountains as their common border was a landmark event that set the sage of developing the comprehensive, stable and long-term relationship. "This enduring entente has withstood the vicissitudes of internal as well as external challenges," he added.

Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence

Agha Shahi noted that China's observance of the Five Principles has enabled it to resolve almost all its disputes or difference with more than a dozen neighbours on basis of mutual accommodation.

The other speakers at the seminar said that over the past half a century, the five principles have made great contributions to maintaining world and regional peace and prosperity, he noted.

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, initiated by China, India and Myanmar in 1954, are mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.