Islamabad: Lasting peace in South Asia is "absolutely inconceivable" without finding an amicable solution to the "core issue" of Kashmir that is acceptable to all stakeholders, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Monday.
"Kashmir holds the key to restoring peace and socio-economic development in the region and the dream of regional harmony, security and peace cannot come true unless this "chronic issue is fairly resolved", Gilani said.
"We recognize that without finding an amicable solution of the core issue of Kashmir, lasting peace and prosperity in the region is absolutely inconceivable," Gilani said.
"Yet we want a solution which is acceptable to all the stakeholders because a solution imposed against the will of any party will not be durable," the premier said.
Speaking at the inauguration of a conference on Kashmir in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Gilani asked peace-loving nations to come forward to help resolve an issue that he claimed has "jeopardised the peace and security of the entire world".
The theme of the conference 'Kashmir in emerging global perspectives' covers the "core issue and its fallouts", he said.
"The solution of the issue lies in realising the fact that it has very badly affected the overall socio-economic development of both India and Pakistan, besides adding miseries in the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he contended.
Gilani claimed the people of the sub-continent, particularly the people of Kashmir, have suffered a lot as they have been "deprived of their basic human rights".
Pakistan will continue to extend "political and diplomatic support" to the people of Kashmir for their right of self-determination, he said.
Gilani said he was pleased that the dialogue with India had been restored and the process "should continue so that the long-standing issue could be resolved corresponding to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the UN Charter and UN resolutions".
There was no precedent in the modern world of any issue between two disputing nations being "resolved through wars or by maintaining the status quo", he said.
"In an environment of peaceful coexistence, people of both nations would be able to divert their energies towards far reaching socio-economic initiatives aimed at their well-being, progress and prosperity," he added.
Earlier in the day, Gilani inaugurated a series of education and infrastructure projects for different cities in PoK. The premier, who is on a day-long visit to the region, inaugurated the Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot campuses of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir University. He also inaugurated 25 schools.
Gilani thanked the Saudi Arabian government for providing aid to complete these projects.
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