HIMALAYAN and CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES (JOURNAL of HIMALAYAN RESEARCH and CULTURAL FOUNDATION) NGO in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC, United Nations Vol
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ISSN 0971-9318 HIMALAYAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES (JOURNAL OF HIMALAYAN RESEARCH AND CULTURAL FOUNDATION) NGO in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC, United Nations Vol. 12 No. 1 January - March 2008 India and The European Union: Problems and Prospects Harish Kapur India’s Relations with The European Union Rajendra K. Jain The Kashmir Issue: European Perspectives Paul Beersmans Emma Nicholson Kashmir Report: A View from Pakistan controlled Kashmir Shabir Choudhry Kashmir Issue and the European Union Shaukat Ali Kashmiri Documents European Parliament Resolution on Kashmir, 24 May 2007 EU-India Joint Statement, Helsinki, 13 October 2006 India-EU Joint Statement, New Delhi, 30 November 2007 HIMALAYAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES Editor : K. Warikoo Assistant Editor : Sharad K. Soni Sub Editor : Mahesh R. Debata © Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, New Delhi. * All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without first seeking the written permission of the publisher or due acknowledgement. * The views expressed in this Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation. SUBSCRIPTION IN INDIA Single Copy (Individual) : Rs. 200.00 Annual (Individual) : Rs. 500.00 Institutions : Rs. 700.00 & Libraries (Annual) OVERSEAS (AIRMAIL) Single Copy : US $ 10.00 UK £ 7.00 Annual (Individual) : US $ 30.00 UK £ 20.00 Institutions : US $ 50.00 & Libraries (Annual) UK £ 35.00 This journal has been published with the partial financial assistance of the Central Asian Studies Programme, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. However, the responsibility for the facts stated or opinions expressed is entirely of the authors. Himalayan and Central Asian Studies is indexed and abstracted in Worldwide Political Science Abstracts and PAIS International, CSA, USA Subscriptions should be sent by crossed cheque or bank draft in favour of HIMALAYAN RESEARCH AND CULTURAL FOUNDATION, B-6/86, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi - 110029 (India) Printed and published by Prof. K. Warikoo on behalf of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, B-6/86, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029. Distributed by Anamika Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd, 4697/3, 21-A, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Printed at Nagri Printers, Delhi-110032. EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Hridaya Kaul Prof. Harish Kapur New Delhi (India) Professor Emeritus Graduate Institute of International Studies Geneva (Switzerland) Prof. Touraj Atabaki Prof. Devendra Kaushik International Institute of Social Gurgaon, Haryana (India) History University of Amsterdam The Netherlands Prof. Jayanta Kumar Ray Prof. Pushpesh Pant Chairman Dean Maulana Abul Kalam Azad School of International Studies Institute of Asian Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University Kolkata (India) New Delhi (India) Dr. Lokesh Chandra Prof. P. Sahadevan Director Chairperson International Academy of Centre for South, Central & Indian Culture Southeast Asian Studies New Delhi (India) School of International Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi (India) Dr. Osmund Bopearachchi Dr. Sanjyot Mehendale Director of Research at CNRS Executive Director and Professor, Sorbonne Caucasus and Central Asia Program Laboratory of Archaeology University of California University of Paris (France) Berkeley, USA CONTRIBUTORS Prof. Harish Kapur is Professor Emeritus, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland. Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne is Member, European Parliament, and Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium. Rajendra K. Jain is Professor of European Studies and Chairperson, Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Paul Beersmans is President, Belgian Association for Solidarity with Jammu and Kashmir, Brussels, Belgium. Dr. Shabir Choudhry is Director, Institute of Kashmir Affairs, London. Shaukat Ali Kashmiri is Chairman, United Kashmir Peoples National Party. HIMALAYAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES Vol. 12 No. 1 January - March 2008 CONTENTS Editor’s Page 1-3 India and The European Union: Harish Kapur 4-15 Problems and Prospects India’s Relations with Rajendra K. Jain 16-27 The European Union The Kashmir Issue: Paul Beersmans 28-40 European Perspectives Emma Nicholson Kashmir Report: Shabir Choudhry 41-55 A View from Pakistan controlled Kashmir Kashmir Issue and The European Union Shaukat Ali Kashmiri 56-58 DOCUMENTS “The Ancient and Unique Heritage of the Kashmiri People” 59-61 (Speech by Baroness Emma Nicholson on 24 May 2007 to the European Parliament on the Jammu and Kashmir Resolution) Explanatory Statement 62-67 by Baroness Emma Nicholson European Parliament Resolution of 24 May 2007 68-93 on Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects EU-India Joint Statement, Helsinki, 13 October 2006 94-102 India-EU Joint Statement, New Delhi, 30 November 2007 103-114 Editor’s Page The European Union (EU) with 27 member countries and a population of over 465 million has become a major force in international affairs. After the Treaty of Maastricht had laid the basis for a Common Foreign and Security Policy in 1992, the EU brought out in 1994 a comprehensive and balanced framework for Europe’s relations with Asia, under the title “Towards a New Asia Strategy”. Thus emerged a broad common thinking in the EU about its objectives in Asia, which were identified as: (i) strengthen the EU’s economic presence, (ii) contribute to stability in Asia, (iii) promote/assist the development of poor countries and sub-regions and (iv) contribute to the development of democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Asia. Though the European Community was established in 1957, its interaction with India remained limited to commercial cooperation for a considerable period. It was in the post-Cold War period, that India concluded a five-year “partnership and development agreement” with EU in December 1993, covering a wide spectrum of commercial, economic, scientific and other areas of cooperation between the two countries. In the year 2006, EU emerged as India’s largest trading partner with a turnover of 48 billion Euros, which accounted for about one- fifth of India’s total foreign trade. The year 2007 witnessed the growing cooperation between India and the EU, which included the establishment of a European Business and Technology in India. The EU-India relations have moved on to political and strategic realms now. Appropriate institutional mechanisms have been put in place to develop and monitor the political relations. Strategic partnership was launched at the 5th EU-India Himalayan and Central Asian Studies Vol.12 No.1, Jan.-March 2008 1 summit in November 2004. EU and India share common concerns and global challenges such as addressing climate change, poverty, energy security, fighting terrorism and organised crime and dealing with mass migration. The EU and India are working towards the finalisation of the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. It is against this background that this issue of Himalayan and Central Asian Studies is focussed on EU and India, with two learned papers by eminent specialists Prof. Harish Kapur and Prof. R.K. Jain. We are grateful to Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterburne, Member, European Parliament and author of the Report on Kashmir, which was passed with some amendments by the EU Committee on Foreign Affairs on 21 March 2007 (60 in favour, 1 against and 11 abstentions) and later on passed almost unanimously in the plenary session of the EU Parliament on 24 May 2007 (522 in favour, 9 against and 19 abstentions), for providing us the relevant documents to be included in this Special Issue. This EU Report on Kashmir provides the basic framework for a cohesive EU policy on Kashmir. It represents a consensus as prior to this report there was no agreed EU policy on Kashmir. It is objective and realistic enough to acknowledge that the UN laid conditions for a plebiscite in Kashmir “have not been and can no longer be met by Pakistan”. The report pays considerable attention to the abject poverty, illiteracy, backwardness and absence of democratic structures in Pak-occupied Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan. The people of these areas have expressed their happiness at the EU report for bringing into focus before the international community, their plight. Papers by Dr. Shabir Choudhary, Shaukat Kashmiri and Paul Beersmans, provide valuable insights on these issues. Baroness Emma Nicholson’s letter of 22 May 2007 to the Ambassador of Pakistan in 2 Himalayan and Central Asian Studies Vol.12 No.1, Jan.-March 2008 Brussels set the record straight, pointing out the historical, political and legal position on the Northern Areas being a part of the Jammu and Kashmir State. So the EU report on Kashmir has narrowed the differences between the general Indian and European thinking on the Kashmir issue. However, notwithstanding their divergent approach to issues of security, border management, and separatism, EU can gain from Indian experience in dealing with terrorism and jihadi activities. To conclude, I quote from the comments made by Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission on the shared values and challenges of EU and India, which were published recently in an Indian newspaper (The Hindu,