Speech to the Japanese Parliamentarians Tokyo June 2002 I am greatly honoured to be addressing this meeting of three very important committees of Japanese Parliamentarians at this critical time when my country faces a grave threat of war from a bigger and more powerful neighbour, India. In this brief statement I will dwell on three issues namely, Kashmir, terrorism and the India-Pakistan relations. It is important to give you a brief historical background of the Kashmir dispute as it is at the heart of not only the current tensions between Pakistan and India but also their traditionally strained relations. In 1947, two independent states, India and Pakistan, had emerged as a result of decolonization of British India. Each state had its own national, religious and cultural identity as well as a different historical experience. Pakistan came into being in response to nationalistic aspirations of the Muslims who had historically found it difficult to co-exist with the majority Hindu community. The principle of the decolonization of the British India was that the territories which were under the direct control of the British were to be divided into two separate states. The areas where Muslims were in majority became Pakistan and the rest of the territory became India. There were, however, several hundred principalities and small states ruled by Maharajas which enjoyed some degree of autonomy under the overall British rule. The British government advised these states to join either India or Pakistan depending on their geographical location, economic interests and religious and cultural complexion of the population. On that basis, many states joined India and some joined Pakistan. In the Kashmir state where the population was pre-dominantly Muslim which had strong geographical, economic and trade linkages with the people wanted to join Pakistan. India, however, did not allow that and occupied the state by force. The matter went to the United Nations which passed resolutions saying that the Kashmiri people should be given the right of self-determination to be exercised through an independent plebiscite where they could decide whether they wanted to join Pakistan or India. Both Pakistan and India committed to these resolutions. But soon after, India went back on its promise and refused to hold the plebiscite. The people of Kashmir grew impatient and have been protesting at the occupation by India. Since late 1980s these protests have become an armed uprising which India has tried to control through use of force. However, it has failed. India has responded to its failure by increasing its armed forces which now stand at 700,000 troops which are engaged in a systemic repression, killing of innocent civilians, rape, torture and gross abuse of human rights. Pakistan supports the Kashmiri struggle through political, moral and diplomatic means and has been creating an awareness in the international community against Indian repression of the innocent Kashmiri people. India refuses to hold plebiscite and has refused entry of independent observers into Kashmir to see the atrocities it is committing. It is engaged in a propaganda war against Pakistan accusing Pakistan of sending infiltrators across the Line of Control to create terrorism in Kashmir. The fact is whatever is happening inside Kashmir is indigenous. If there is a violence by the freedom fighters it is a response to the violence committed by India. Violence breeds violence. Pakistan is opposed to terrorism in all its forms. Whenever any innocent civilians are killed in Kashmir or in India we have always condemned it. If India decides to implement the UN resolutions and seeks a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute, the violence will stop. Even terrorism will stop. But India refuses to seek a peaceful solution. Instead it has decided to seek a military solution because it has big power ambitions and seeks to dominate the region. To deflect attention of the world opinion from what is happening inside Kashmir it is accusing Pakistan of sponsoring cross border terrorism, sending infiltrators across the Line of Control and waging a proxy war. Anything that happens in Kashmir or in India including the attack on the Indian Parliament, which we have condemned, is routinely blamed by India on Pakistan. The Indian strategy is to exploit the current anti-terrorism wave in the international community and discredit the resistance in Kashmir and the Pakistan government which is giving moral, political and diplomatic support. The idea is to isolate the Kashmiri resistance and then suppress it militarily. Pakistan has offered many times to have international monitors across the Line of Control which can check Indian claims about infiltration. India refuses. India refuses to let any international agency such as Human Rights organizations, international media, Amnesty International and International Red Cross to visit Kashmir. There is a complete black out. It does not want the real facts to come out so that it could continue to mislead the international public opinion by blaming Pakistan. Pakistan is opposed to terrorism and has indeed been a victim of terrorism itself. Pakistan was a front line state in the fight against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1980s. The fight against Soviets with the help of international community including Japan managed to help Afghanistan get free of the Soviets, but it left many problems for Pakistan. As soon as the Soviets left the international community washed its hands off Afghanistan but we were left to cope these problems by ourselves - problems such as growth of militant organizations, drugs and weapons. For the last 20 years we have suffered from such militant organizations. Under the bold and courageous leadership of President Musharraf we are trying to curb the activities of these organizations. In a landmark speech of 12th January, the President banned five such organizations including those that India claims to be terrorist organizations, arrested thousands of their members and frozen their funds. The President also said that Pakistan’s territory will not be allowed to be used for export of terrorism. Since then the Government of Pakistan has not only reiterated these policies but also taken further steps. On 23 May, the National Security Council and the Cabinet in a joint meeting explicitly said that not only the territory of Pakistan but also any other territory the defence of which is the responsibility of Pakistan such as Azad Kashmir, will not be allowed to be used for carrying out any terrorism acts. It was also categorically stated that no agency or individual Pakistani will be allowed to carry out terrorism in the name of Kashmir. The President also said that Pakistan would never initiate a war against India despite this time of national emergency. The President was categorical in saying that Pakistan was not allowing any infiltration along the Line of Control. President also assured the elections to the National and Provincial legislatures will be held on 7 to 11 October. Thus we have taken very bold initiative since 12th of January but have not seen any response from India. We would like to normalize the relations with India. We would like to see withdrawal of troops from borders which should be followed by initiation of a process of dialogue, cessation of atrocities being perpetrated on the people of Kashmir, permission to the international media and the human rights organizations to enter Kashmir and to see the situation on the ground. The fact is that a freedom struggle is going on in Kashmir and India cannot distort this reality by this propaganda warfare and military pressure on Pakistan. International community specially influential countries like Japan are called upon to remain engaged in the region and use their influence with India to exercise self-restraint, demobilize its forces and initiate dialogue with Pakistan. Pakistan is prepared to discuss any issue with India in the interest of peace in the region and international peace and stability.