Saarc states urged to give top priority to Kashmir issue

South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) summit must give top priority to the Kashmir issue in order to achieve the ultimate objective of regional co-operation and poverty alleviation.
Addressing the annual function of the Pakistan Light Industrial Forum (PLIF) Hamid Sultan, Chairman PLIF said that defence remained the top priority for both Pakistan and India during last five decades and both countries have now entered into the nuclear phase after making a huge spending on conventional armaments.
He said that Pakistan had spent only Rs 371.1 million during the first year of its creation, which has now swollen to Rs 142 billion. Similarly, India was also spending major chunk of its budget, which is 100 times more than spending by Pakistan on this head.
Enumerating the efforts of international community for reconciliation, he said that successive wars forced them to sign the Tashkent agreement in 1966, Simla agreement in 1972 and later Lahore declaration in 1999.
He said that all these efforts proved futile as no serious effort was made to resolve the fundamental issue of Kashmir, which remained a bone of contention between the two countries.
Congratulating the vision of President Pervaiz Musharraf, he said that Musharraf has had the privilege to highlight the Kashmir issue at international forums, adding that 'he is now trying to convince India and the world community to help Pakistan solve this issue for the lasting peace and economic prosperity in this region'.
SMUGGLING: He was critical of the cross-border smuggling and said that in spite of political and economic hostilities, the volume of cross-border smuggling was estimated at Rs300 billion per annum.
"This smuggling is detrimental for the industrial as well as economic growth of the two countries," he said, adding, "this must be channelised to reap the fruits of economic development and poverty alleviation."
Appreciating the political leadership of Saarc countries, he said, "they have realised the importance of economic development and are willing to resolve the fundamental issues in their true perspective."
He hoped that they would play their due role during the Saarc summit to resolve the Kashmir issue and thus pave way for the economic prosperity of the region.