UK to play role to resolve Kashmir dispute, says Warsi
* British minister says issues related to students seeking higher studies in UK being resolved
MIRPUR: Head of the British ruling Conservative Party and cabinet minister in the government, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, on Saturday called upon both India and Pakistan to initiate effective steps for an early and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
The Pakistani-origin British minister was addressing a reception hosted by citizens of Mirpur in her honour. The ceremony was also addressed among others by the UK High Commissioner in Pakistan Adam Thomson, former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Attique Khan, PPP AJK Senior Vice President Muhammad Yasin, senior leader of the Peoples Muslim League Muhammad Arshad, Mirpur Comissioner Mahmoodul Hassan Raja, senior journalist Altaf Hamid Rao and Barrister Abid Hussain.
Earlier, Warsi was accorded a warm reception as she reached Mirpur on her first-ever visit to the city the hometown of her in-laws. Her parents, husband Iftikhar Chaudhry, Rob
Murphy, head of Strategic Communications at the UK High Commission, Martin Daltry, programme development manager of the British Council and other senior officials of the British High Commission were also present.
Warsi said Britain would play its due role to ensure an early resolution of the Kashmir dispute. She said her country was taking effective steps in connection with the resolution of the Kashmir conflict.
She said that since over a million overseas Pakistanis, including about 700,000 Kashmiri expatriates, were serving in various sectors in the United Kingdom, the British government would extend due cooperation and assistance for the progress and prosperity of AJK through an exchange of cooperation in the education, health and social sectors.
Warsi said issues related to AJK students seeking higher studies in the UK were being resolved. The British minister said the people of Pakistan and AJK, including UK-based expatriates, attached great hopes to her and she would try her best to meet their expectations.
Addressing the gathering, British High Commissioner Adam Thomson said the UK was acting upon an integrated plan to promote friendship with Pakistan through an exchange of cooperation and assistance and by launching projects in various public welfare fields, including education and health.
He said the projects would also help promote social interactions within the communities.
The British high commissioner said such public welfare projects would help promote and strengthen better understanding between the students and academic staff of educational institutions in AJK and the UK, besides bringing both countries closer to each other.
Addressing the ceremony, top Kashmiri leaders, including Sardar Attique and Muhammad Yasin, called upon Britain to exert every possible pressure on India for the early resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
They paid tribute to Warsi for her meritorious services through, social, political and legal fields for the people in the UK. We are proud of this daughter of east who secured distinctions through her high intellect and pen in the social and political arena of the UK by securing the office of the British ruling Conservative Party, the speakers said.
They said Warsi was a role model for women and men alike. The people of Kashmir attach great hopes with Warsi vis-à-vis her role for an early peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue in line with the resolutions of the United Nations, the speakers added. app
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan