ROBIN COOK,shadow foreign secretary, July 31, 1995
"The position of the Labour Party on Kashmir is that it is a part of the Indian state. And the resolution of the present issue in Kashmir is an internal matter for India, to be conducted on the terms of the Shimla agreement." He clarifies that the three MPs who speak critically of India on Kashmir—Max Madden, Gerald Kaufman and Clare Short—"speak for themselves". "If asked, we will be happy to provide assistance and provide any help we can to make progress. But the first step has to be from India itself and it would be a very impolite foreign secretary who invites himself into such a very difficult internal situation." Britain, he emphasises, could play a role "if we were asked—but we would have to be asked."
LABOUR PARTY RESOLUTION,two months later
"Britain must accept its responsibility as the former imperial power in a dispute that dates from the arrangements for independence. Britain is under an obligation to seek a solution based on our commitment to peace, democracy, human rights and mutual tolerance" and Labour "must use its influence to bring about genuine initiatives". The resolution speaks of Kashmir as an area "bounded by" India and other countries and says it "believes in" the UN resolutions that call for a plebiscite and "also notes" that the Shimla Agreement can be a way forward. Says Cook: "I congratulate my three colleagues who have given us this opportunity to put this matter on the agenda."
ROBIN COOK,shadow foreign secretary,1996
On a visit to Pakistan, Cook says: "The Labour Party recognises that Britain must accept its responsibility as the former imperial power in a dispute that dates from the arrangements for independence." On the Shimla Agreement, he says: "We regret that over 20 years after the agreement there have been no meaningful negotiations towards a solution."
DEREK FATCHETT,foreign office minister, 1997
At the Labour Party conference in Brighton, Fatchett says at a Pakistani meeting that "UN resolutions are UN resolutions until altered by the UN" and you cannot pick and choose "as you do from a menu card". He adds: "Our position is that we support the resolutions (that call for a plebiscite) and seek a long-term solution of the Kashmir issue which takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people." Kaufman, who chairs the meeting, asks for greater effort by the Labour government to "internationalise the Kashmir issue". Referring to Kashmir at a meeting with Indian councillors 24 hours later, Fatchett says: "We would wish to see that issue resolved." He makes no mention here of the Labour government support to the UN resolutions. "There cannot be a person alive who does not wish these (bilateral) talks well," he says, noting that Britain wants to help "not as an old imperial entity but as a new partner country"; "India is an old and trusted friend," though there are "candid moments when we disagree."
