London: Britain has asked Pakistan to "take firm action" against terrorists seeking
to use that country as a safe haven and put an end to militants crossing over to
Jammu and Kashmir.
"We have made clear that the international community will expect Pakistan to take
firm action against any terrorists seeking to use that country as a safe haven,"
Parliamentary Under Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Amos, said
in the House of Commons replying to a question on steps taken to close terrorist
training camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
"We have welcomed the steps that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has taken so far
to clamp down on terrorist and extremist groups in Pakistan. We shall urge him to
continue in that vital task," she said on November 6.
Answering a separate question on the killings of 800 people by terrorists' violence
in Jammu and Kashmir since the Assembly polls were announced, Mike O'Brien,
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, said,
"We now need to ensure that there is an end to terrorism and a beginning of a process
of greater contact between the two countries.
"In due course, I hope that it will be possible to hold discussions that will lead to
a peaceful settlement of the disputes, including those in relation to Kashmir."
Sharing the members' concern about cross-border infiltration, O'Brien said Britain
has raised the matter regularly with Pakistan government, including during the visit
of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Islamabad on July 19 and 20 and when he met his
Pakistani counterpart in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"The Pakistani government has assured us that President Musharraf's pledge that there
will be no further movement across the line of control still stands, and that the
Pakistani Army is doing all it can to stop infiltration. We are ensuring that the
Pakistani government are aware of our continued concern and we are working with them
in order to try to ensure that those promises are indeed kept," he said.
During the discussions in the House, the Indian Election Commission came in for high
praise for its efforts to hold free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The elections in Jammu and Kashmir were marred by high levels of violence and
intimidation, which we unreservedly condemn. Despite that, the Indian Election
Commission has made strenuous efforts to deliver free and fair elections," O'Brien
said.
He said many Kashmiris chose to participate in the elections and hoped that the polls
would be a step in a broader process that would bring peace to the region.
PTI
