Pak stance on Kashmir unchanged, says Gilani

MUZAFFARABAD (APP) - Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistan’s principled stance on Kashmir issue remains unchanged and it would continue to extend political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir.
He was addressing a ceremony in remembrance of those who died in the 2005 devastating earthquake of 7.6 magnitude on the Richter scale, which killed around 80,000 people and rendered over three million homeless in AJK and parts of NWFP.
Prime Minister said the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Occupied Kashmir were inseparable.
“We are one and will remain so”, he said amidst applause.
Gilani who is on a daylong visit to the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir categorically stated “There is no change in Pakistan’s principled stance on Kashmir”.
The PM said giving internal autonomy to Gilgit-Baltistan would not have any negative impact on Pakistan’s position on the Kashmir dispute. He recalled the famous saying of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who described Kashmir as the “jugular vein” of Pakistan and said the same has been pursued by Pakistan People’s Party.
Meanwhile, addressing the inaugural ceremony of the conference organised by National Disaster Management Authority, marking 4th anniversary of devastating earthquake in Islamabad, Prime Minister stressed the need for enhanced public-private partnership in an early warning and effective emergency response system to mitigate the effects of disaster.
The PM said the existing response system needs to be strengthened through institutional capacity building at the federal, provincial and district levels to affect a timely response to deal with large scale disasters.
He said the government had evolved a multi-pronged strategy for a comprehensive and composite disaster management system.
He said the government plans to institutionalise the system by focussing on prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and relief. These development strategies aim at risk reduction and mitigation, he added.
Giani said the earthquake demonstrated resilience of the Pakistani nation that overcame this unprecedented catastrophe.
“The tragic event made us realise the need for strengthening our national capacities for scientific management of disasters and disaster risks to avoid the kind of loss of life and property we suffered”.
The PM said the earthquakes of 2005 in NWFP and Azad Kashmir; the one in 2008 in Balochistan, cyclone and floods of 2007 in Sindh and Balochistan and the concurrent menace of terrorism and resultant displacement of millions of people speaks volumes of threats posed by disaster risks in Pakistan.