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Congress welcomes Annan's statement

The Congress on Monday welcomed United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's endorsement of India's stand on Kashmir, but said it would have been "better" if he had "invoked" the Simla Agreement as well.

"While we welcome the secretary general's observation that UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir are now irrelevant... it would have been better if he had invoked the Simla Agreement which ensured peace between India and Pakistan for 27 years," Congress Working Committee member Natwar Singh told the Press Trust of India in New Delhi.

Singh, who had also served as envoy to Pakistan, said that within three months of the Lahore Declaration the Kargil conflict had surfaced.

Annan during his visit to Pakistan on Sunday ruled out implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir, saying a lasting solution to the problem lay in the implementation of the Lahore Declaration.

"I call upon both India and Pakistan to retain the spirit of the Lahore Declaration," he said.

PTI

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