ISLAMABAD, 15 February 2007 — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf called yesterday for an early resolution of the Palestine and Kashmir issues, saying the settlement of the disputes would contribute to world peace and spur economic development.
Speaking at an international conference “Voice from Asia,” at the Institute of Strategic Studies here, Musharraf said, “The world community should coordinate its efforts to fight extremism and terrorism and the Muslim world should project the concept of enlightened moderation as the basis of ensuring peace.” The conference which was jointly organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Majlis El Hassan of Jordan and Sasakowa Peace Foundation of Japan was attended by Prince Hassan ibn Talal of Jordan.
Musharraf stressed the need for adhering to the UN charter and said Pakistan supported reforms in the United Nations. He said the resolution of the Palestinian and Kashmiri disputes would remove economic disparity between developing countries and the West and end the sufferings of people affected by the disputes. Musharraf said the dialogue within the framework of “Voice from Asia” was a way forward to resolving disputes in Asia and other regions.
Musharraf said it was vital to hold Iraq together. “We cannot accept any division of Iraq. It will lead to a tremendous amount of upheaval in the region,” he said.
Musharraf said he was trying to gather countries that support “a conciliatory approach instead of a confrontationist approach” to the region’s problems.
Referring to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, he said it was one of the best available forums which could resolve issues being faced by Muslim countries but that it needed restructuring.
Prince Talal said the international community must show consistency in its treatment of states and their peoples and must accept the need for supranational thinking. He said, “Diplomatic multilateralism in West Asia and South Asia must be supported by greater economic initiative involving oil and non-oil producing states.”
