Self-Determination And The People Of Kashmir

EDM number 1692 in 1997-98, proposed by Roger Godsiff on 26/10/1998.

That this House records that 27th October marks the 51st anniversary of the Indian occupation of large areas of the state Jammu and Kashmir; notes that a peaceful solution to one of the world's longest running disputes appears no closer; welcomes the recent initiatives and statements made by both the Indian and Pakistan governments and the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, in respect of the development of a constructive dialogue; views with the gravest concern recent events which have seen nuclear tests conducted by the governments of both India and Pakistan and the general increase in military tension across the Line-of-Control; believes that world community can ignore at its peril the potential for nuclear confrontation in one of the most highly militarised areas of the world; expresses regret that the reports of human rights violations, particularly cases of extra-judicial torture and death continue unabated; further believes that, as in the Middle East and Northern Ireland, a just and meaningful solution to this problem cannot take place without the full involvement of all parties involved, particularly the Kashmiri people themselves; and calls on Her Majesty's Government not only to support vigorously the United Nations resolutions of 1948, 1949 and 1957, which upheld the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination through a United Nations-supervised plebiscite, but also to take a lead in raising these matters again in the United Nations.

This motion has been signed by a total of 33 MPs.