London - Lord Avebury, Chairman of the British Parliamentary Human Rights Group, told a press conference at a House Lords' Committee room on Thursday (23rd January) that British Prime Minister John Major's speech on his recent visit to Pakistan was an advance on some of the previous government statements.

Prime Minister Major had stressed that "there are three essential parties to the Kashmir issue - the government of India, the government of Pakistan, and the people who live in Kashmir themselves."

Lord Avebury went on to say neither the prime minister nor his foreign minister can be expected to take initiatives on Kashmir in the final days of his government. If Britain is to play any part in breaking the stalemate which has persisted ever since the Simla Agreement, it will be only after the general election in Britian has cleared the air.

He said the international indifference towards the Kashmir dispute was also exacerbated by the international community wanting to be on good terms with India because of the lucrative market.

Lord Avebury said he had written to the new UN Secretary General urging him to take the Kashmir question on board for it was an incontestable fact that the dispute posed a threat to peace in the region.