'Pakistan decides, in principle, to grant MFN status to India'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has, in principle, decided to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, said Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday.

Responding to a question during 'question hour' in the National Assembly, she said dialogue process with India has been initiated after a gap of two years. "The top-most priority of the country is to ensure uninterrupted dialogue with India so that the resolution of core Kashmir could be ensured", he added.

"There are a number of achievements regarding relations with India. We have achieved ground on trade with India. First time in history, the Indian Foreign Minister had attended the reception of Pakistan Foreign Minister in New York," she said.

To another question she said, Pakistan wanted good relations with India by sticking to its principled stance on Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the will of the Kashmiri people and to be determined through a free and fair plebiscite under the UN auspices.

During the past three years, Jammu and Kashmir dispute has been discussed during all bilateral interactions between the leadership of the two countries as well as at the Foreign Secretary levels.

"I raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue with my Indian counterpart at the ministerial meeting in New Delhi in July 2011. The joint statement of the ministerial meeting underscored the need for continued discussion of Jammu and Kashmir in a purposeful and forward-looking manner with a view to finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences."

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011