MUZAFFARABAD, Feb 5: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said that peace in the region was not possible unless the Kashmiris were given a chance to decide their future.

"Establishment of peace in the region is not possible nor can the confidence-building measures proceed unless the Kashmir issue is resolved in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiris and they are included in the dialogue process," he said in his message to the special joint session of the AJK Legislative Assembly and AJK Council which was held to mark the Solidarity Day.

The message was read by LA speaker Sardar Siab Khalid as bad weather prevented the president from flying to Muzaffarabad.

"It is the basic right of the Kashmiris to decide their future on their own. I want to make it clear that the Kashmir cause is our vital national interest and we cannot think of compromising it," Gen Musharraf said in the message.

The Solidarity Day is being observed in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir since 1990 when for the first time Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed had given a call to the nation to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir. The call was endorsed by the federal government and ever since Feb 5 has become a day of solidarity with the Kashmiris, which is observed all over Pakistan, in AJK and in many other countries where Kashmiris are living. "Today Pakistan and India are passing through a critical phase. We are holding composite dialogue with India. Meaningful dialogue between the two sides is not an easy thing. Everybody knows the circumstances in which the talks began and in those circumstances, resumption of talks in itself is a big success," the president said.

Pakistan would not accept any solution of the Kashmir issue, he reiterated, saying that Islamabad had made its position clear to the Indian leadership and the international community.

He assured the Kashmiri brethren that "the entire Pakistani nation is with them in their struggle for freedom and they would always enjoy the moral, political and diplomatic support of Pakistan."

"The support to the legitimate stand of Kashmiris by us is not only based on the principles of brotherhood, but also it is part of our duties and responsibilities with regard to the implementation of international laws, the UN charter and the relevant Security Council resolutions."

The president paid tributes to "more than 80,000 martyrs who had laid down their lives in Indian held Kashmir during the ongoing freedom struggle."

"These sacrifices will soon bear fruit. I am sure at long last the Kashmiris will get peace and freedom."

He said Islamabad was also paying special attention to the development of AJK.

"By the grace of God our economy is strengthening and we will provide enough funds for the uplift of this territory."

Separately, in another message aired by the PTV on Saturday, Gen Musharraf said: "We are trying our best to achieve peaceful and just solution of Kashmir."

"Ours is the same stand as used to exist in 1948. The only change or difference is that Pakistan (has) announced we were ready to show flexibility provided India showed the same," he said.

About talks on the proposed bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar, the president said it was being done in accordance with the wishes of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference so that divided families on both sides of the Line of Control could see each other.

"In the beginning it will be between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, but I am sure if it is successful, it will be launched from other routes as well."

RESOLUTION: Later, a resolution was unanimously passed by the joint sitting. The resolution, moved by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raja Nisar Ahmed Khan, expressed gratitude to the people and government of Pakistan for showing solidarity with the Kashmiris.