If India wants to boycott Commonwealth Conference, it's their problem, says Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan will not invite the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to the upcoming Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference as it would compromise its position on the Kashmir issue, the Pakistan government has said. If India boycotts the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) here because the Jammu and Kashmir assembly speaker was not invited, it is India’s problem, IANS quoted Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of the National Assembly who is also the president of the CPC as saying. But come what may, Pakistan won’t budge from its stand, Sadiq said. [caption id=“attachment_2388834” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Representative image. Agencies[/caption] The Dawn on Tuesday quoted Sadiq as saying that Pakistan’s position on Jammu and Kashmir was clear. “Pakistan will not invite the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to the (CPC) (next month). The assembly of Indian-held Kashmir is not legitimate so we will not accept it,” he said on Monday. “If India does not attend the conference, because of the Kashmir issue, it is their choice. We cannot budge from our stand,” he added. The speaker said Jammu and Kashmir was on the UN agenda and had been an unsettled dispute since 1947. Special Advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaj Aziz said here that Kashmir was a disputed territory and Pakistan does not recognise its assembly. “We will never invite the speaker of occupied Jammu and Kashmir Assembly,” Aziz said. He said Pakistan’s principled position on Jammu and Kashmir will be compromised if the speaker of held Kashmir is invited to the conference. “Pakistan does not recognise and accept the said assembly as a legitimate one,” he said. Pakistan is hosting the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference from 30 September to 8 October for which over 70 per cent of the delegates have confirmed participation. India has threatened to boycott the meet if the speaker of the J&K assembly was not invited. Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan said Pakistan had violated protocol by not inviting the speaker of Jammu and Kashmir, The Dawn reported. “In the past Pakistan has invited delegations from Kashmir,” he said. Raghavan also said that India will not attend the conference if Pakistan did not invite the speaker. India has refused to attend the Commonwealth meet in protest against the refusal of Pakistan to invite the Jammu and Kashmir speaker. PTI and IANS