London, March 12 (KMS): In London, the Chairman of All Parties Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, Lord Nazir Ahmed has demanded of Britain and the world community to convene an international conference on Kashmir.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, while addressing a reception held in the Parliament, demanded participation of all stakeholders and appointment of special envoy on Kashmir. He said that the Foreign and Commonwealth office had hosted conferences on Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine and it was the time that it should arrange an international conference on the Kashmir dispute.
He maintained that the All Parties Parliamentary Group had been struggling for the last many years to win right to self-determination for the Kashmiri people and as its Chairman he wanted to move the Group in a new fashion by bringing in the community, all political leaders and other organisations to know their point of view.
He declared that he wanted to press the British government through the Group to impress upon India and Pakistan to include Kashmiris in negotiations aimed at resolving the dispute. He also demanded of the international community to take cognisance of the issues of human rights violations, mass graves, missing persons and illegal detention of innocent people including Hurriyet leaders in the occupied territory.
On the occasion, Pakistan High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hassan said that the dispute had been pending for many decades which should be resolved in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions by giving the people of Kashmir their inalienable right to self-determination. He appreciated the efforts of Lord Nazir Ahmed for reactivating the Group and hoped the dispute would again become focus of the international attention.
Members of Parliament, Paul Rowen, David Lidington, Lord Eric Avebury, Marsha Singh, Muhammad Sarwar, John Hemming, Stephen Timms, Humfrey Malins, Baroness Knight and the Executive Director of Kashmir Centre London, Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawl addressed the reception. The Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan, Asif Durrani, Martin Salter, Dr Brian Iddon, Dr Misfar Hassan and others were present on the occasion. »