Pakistan on Monday ruled out any unilateral demilitarisation along the Line of Control and said President Pervez Musharraf's offer to withdraw troops should be seen in the overall context of his proposals to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Elaborating on Musharraf's article in a Kashmir Affairs journal published from London, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a media briefing in Islamabad the general's reference to demilitarisation was only one of his proposals.
"He also talked about certain ideas in the context of resolving Kashmir dispute. He talked about identifying the regions, demilitarisation, self-governance and joint management," she said.
"Again our position is very clear. There will be no unilateral demilitarisation," Aslam said.
She also virtually ruled out any chances of Pakistan meeting the demand of the visiting Prisoner of War relatives to investigate the evidence they collected about the existence of 54 missing Indian military personnel of the 1971 war in Pakistan prisons.
Answering questions relating to the pleas made by the 14-member delegation of relatives, which is currently visiting various jails, Aslam said Pakistan has accorded an "unprecedented gesture" without receiving the "same level" of gesture from the other side.
Without referring to the release of 93,000 Pakistan PoWs by India, Aslam did not directly answer questions about the Indian relatives' request to visit some of the military detention centres, including the Attock prison where foreign prisoners were believed to have been kept.
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