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US to support independent judiciary: Boucher
Encourages dialogue among parties for Kashmir resolution
Washington—The United States wants to support an
independent judiciary in Pakistan once the political parties in the
country resolve the issue of restoration of judges, a senior
American official said.
Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia,
however, emphasized that it is up to the political parties, how they
resolve the questions pertaining to judiciary.
“They have to solve the political problems first. So at this point,
we’re looking to them to resolve this political issue of restoration
of judges—however, they decide to do it,” he stated at a hearing of
the House Foreign Affairs sub-committee on Wednesday afternoon.
The United States, he said, “want to support an independent
judiciary in Pakistan. We have had, I think, some programs in this
area already, but in terms of doing a major push in this area, it’ll
be once they solve the political questions involving the judiciary.”
Asked about any timeframe for resolution of judiciary issues, he
said, “it is up to them (Pakistanis) how they’re going to solve this
issue.”
In response to a question by Democratic congressman and chairman of
the panel Gary Ackerman, Boucher said the parties are “at an impasse
right now, but that doesn’t make it permanent. So we’ll just have to
see how things evolve.”
“There are other institutions, I think, that we can readily work
with—including more local levels of the justice system and police
and things like that,” he added, referring to US cooperation in
strengthening institutions.
Meanwhile, the United States has reaffirmed its support for a
peaceful settlement of the longstanding Jammu and Kashmir issue,
saying it would continue to encourage discussion among parties to
the dispute toward that end.
State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said Pakistan and India
should resolve differences over the dispute through dialogue.
“Certainly, we believe that any differences between India and
Pakistan are things that should be resolved through dialogue”. “And
as you know, we’ve supported dialogue and discussion among the
parties in the past, and we’ll continue to do so,” he stated
Wednesday afternoon in response to a question regarding Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s statement that Kashmir is the core
dispute between the two South Asian nations.—APP
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