JKLF delegation in meeting with US officials

London, 12 March 2000,

A pro-independence international Kashmiri delegation has been in contact with Whitehouse in connection with US president Clinton's forthcoming tour of South Asia. The International delegation of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) led by Yasin Malik, comprising of organisation's UK president Shabir Choudry, Majid Tramboo, Abbas Butt from London and JKLF's former vice chairman Raja Muzafar, their legal advisor in US AJaz Niaz from New York made representation to the State Dept in a meeting in Washington on Friday and discussed in detail their suggestions for peace and the organisations stand point on the issue of Kashmir.

JKLF's pro-active initiative in the week leading up to president Clinton's historic visit to India and Pakistan is regarded as major diplomaitc break through for Kashmiri protagonists working for re-unification and independence for Jammu-Kashmir. The delegation made several proposal for peace and prosperity in the region and insisted to the US State Dept officials that the will of the people of Jammu Kashmir was of paramount importance and that any proposal leading to the solution of the issue must at the end involve the testing of the unfettered will of 13 million people of Jammu Kashmir. They also insisted that US president must put pressure on India to release Kashmiri political activist from Indian jails including the leaders of the All Party Hurriat Conference (APHC) and JKLF chairman Mohammed Yasin Malik who is suffering from an acute heart condition. The US state dept officials meeting the JKLF delegation made the US position clear on the issue of Kashmir by stating that entire State of Jammu-Kashmir was seen as a disputed territory and that Pakistan and India had to resume their dialogue in order to resolve this problem problem in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris. The delegation was briefed about President Clinton's tour of India and Pakistan. The delegations re-iterated JKLF position for the unification and complete independence and made it clear that any solution imposed upon the Kashmiris without their involvement would or any formula leading to the permanent division of the state would not be acceptable and that the JKLF would continue its struggle until its objectives were achieved. The JKLF delegation warned that the sub-continent has come closer to nuclear conflict and that if the Kashmir issue was not resolved in the immediate future the consequences could be disastrous for the region and for the world. They emphasised on the need for President Clinton to meet an APHC delegation while in India and to organise a special fact finding mission to be sent to both sides of the so-called LoC to determine the facts.

Commenting on the JKLF meeting with the State Dept officials, JKLF secretary general, Azmat A Khan said today that while it was an important break through for JKLF's diplomacy and efforts for the voice of Kashmiris to be heard in important places he did not pin much hopes toward the resolution of the Kashmir issue during President Clinton's tour this time round but hoped that it would lead to measures being put in place for a tri-partite dialogue to resume soon which could deliver a permanent and equitable solution to the costly issue of Kashmir which has been outstanding for over 5 decades. Ends