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Annan's statement vindication of India's stand: Jaswant

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh Saturday described UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's statement on resolution on Kashmir as vindication of Indian stand and said there was growing realisation around the globe about it.

This was due to the nicely projected case by India before the world community, he said while addressing the 10th convocation of University of Jammu.

"The special feature of Indian diplomacy is recognition of the trend of the times. Till 1998, the world treated us by prescriptive tone but things have changed now," he said.

The minister said the world cannot ignore the voice of India, having over a billion population, "as our country is a factor for stability, peace and progress and this realisation has dawned on all."

In this context he referred to the resolution sponsored on Afghanistan by India, Russia and US in the UN Security Council.

He said Kashmir was not the core issue between India and Pakistan but it formed the core of Indian nationhood.

Singh said the unfinished agenda of the partition was to find solution to various issues for lasting peace in the region.

"India is leading the caravan of peace and the neighbouring countries should join in this march," he asserted.

Singh said the Taleban anarchy was the outcome of policies pursued by the US-USSR about two decades ago. "They have left leaving behind the problem for the region to face," Singh said.

Describing a socially and economically stable Pakistan as good for India and the region, he said stability in the neighbourhood was equally good for Indo-Pak relations. "India has neither any expansionist designs nor it wants to annex even a millimetre of others' territory, but it has certainly a role to play in the central Asia."

India cannot remain aloof from the happenings in countries like Indonesia, Iran, Tajikistan, which, he said, form its neighbours. "Therefore, India has to recognise true dimensions of its neighbourhood."

On Indian Ocean, he said, it was not merely a salt water resource but a strategic extension of India.

He congratulated the scholars and urged them to give a part of what they attained in the form of strengthening harmony and unity and preserving traditional ethos. He said Kashmiriyat stood for cementing the bonds of love, brotherhood and tranquility.

Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah expressed his gratitude to Singh for his immense help to the state as deputy chairman of Planning Commission and said as foreign minister he gave a new direction to India's foreign policy.

The convocation was also addressed by Governor G C Saxena and vice-chancellor of Jammu University Y R Sharma.

PTI

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