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Pak calls for joint monitoring of LoC

Islamabad, April 28
Pakistan has called for joint monitoring of the Line of Control (LoC) by experts from ‘’neutral countries’’ to verify India’s claims of infiltration by militants from Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri refuted the allegation that it was actively supporting infiltration into the Kashmir valley.

Talking to reporters yesterday in Lahore, he said Pakistan had suggested a geometrical monitoring of the LoC in Kashmir under the supervision of foreign experts from a number of countries, including the USA, the UK, France, Russia, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“Let there be a joint monitoring by foreign experts from these neutral countries to see whether any infiltration was taking place from Pakistan,” Mr Kasuri was reported as saying by The Dawn.

New Delhi: India on Monday rejected Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri’s demand regarding international observers on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to verify infiltration.

“We have heard such statements from Pakistan in the past ...they are self-serving and complicated. They are aimed at bringing in third parties in the resolution of Indo-Pak issues. We have rejected them in the past also,’’ an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman said India expected a “new approach and a new language’’ from Pakistan in the wake of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s offer of talks. UNI