EU parliamentarian calls for dialogue on Kashmir

Praises PM Imran for offering talks offer to India

KARACHI: Ruling out any mediation on the Kashmir issue for the time being, a member of the European Parliament delegation on Wednesday said dialogue was the best way to reduce tension between India and Pakistan.

“I wouldn't say at the moment that we are interested in doing a mediating role,” Jean Denise Lambert MEP said while addressing a news conference.

She said it was far too early “to look at anything like that”, adding the agenda and the speed of the dialogue process had to be determined by the two countries.

Lambert praised Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offer of talks to India. “We've been very encouraged by PM Imran Khan's words... on the openness in actually trying to find a political, peaceful solution [to the conflict between the two countries].

The delegation was paying its first official visit to the country after holding of the elections of July 25, 2018.

The visit provided members of the European parliament with an opportunity to meet with the new government to discuss issues of mutual interests, including bilateral trade, climate change, EU-Pakistan cooperation, rule of law and human rights issues, etc.



While referring to the UN report on alleged rights violations committed by India in Occupied Kashmir, Lambert said, “There have been a number of events in the EU parliament recently on the issue of Kashmir and this is why Wajid Khan [MEP] has managed to move this forward and there will now be a human rights subcommittee in February, 2019, which will look particularly at the UN report that came out on Kashmir,” she said.

“The line we are taking in parliament is to try and make it very much about the people of Kashmir and what it means for the people in their every-day lives.”

Lambert said it was encouraging to hear from Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to try and improve relations with India as “everyone at this point recognises the tension between the two countries because of Kashmir”.

Regarding the elections in Pakistan, She said representation of women and voter education was important to look at, adding due to a young electorate presence in Pakistan, “there is a significant number of new voters in each election”.

“Observation team had concerns about the pre-election climate,” she added.

“There will be a follow-up from the EU delegation with the Election Commission of Pakistan and the stakeholders to look at what we’re saying and what their findings are.”

The delegation welcomed the fact that many recommendations issued by the EU election observation in 2013 had been included in the new election law.

The delegation had met with the foreign minister in the federal capital and talked about China in terms of development in Pakistan.

The panel said the delegation had asked the minister to ensure that Pakistan really benefits from those developments.

“Our understanding is that there may be a shift in project cooperation with China in terms of shifting towards more social programms so it is not just about infrastructure. If you’re becoming part of a bigger trade route, make sure that Pakistan actually gets major benefit out of it.”