Make Kashmir LoC the international border: Faleiro

PANAJI - The Line of Control (LoC) should be converted into the international border in order to solve the Kashmir crisis for good, former union minister Eduardo Faleiro said Wednesday.

The veteran Congress leader also said that in his personal opinion, the United Nations-endorsed plebiscite could not be implemented in today’s day and age.

“The best thing would be, what is there on that side should stay on that side. Azad Kashmir can be there on that side. Let the LoC be maintained as an international border,” Faleiro told reporters, adding that India should also ensure China’s exit from the Aksai-Chin region as soon as possible.

Faleiro, who has been Goa’s longest standing parliamentarian, having been elected to the Lok Sabha five times and once to the Rajya Sabha, was also union minister of state for external affairs in prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet in the 1980s.

Faleiro, who is the commissioner of non-resident Indian (NRI) affairs appointed by the Goa government, also said countries in South Asia should look to the European Union (EU) as an example of how warring nations come together for collective prosperity.

“A South Asia union on the lines of the EU is a must. Here you have an example where countries like England, Germany, Italy, which have fought World Wars have come together for collective benefit,” Faleiro said, adding that the EU model needed to be emulated in South Asia for the region’s benefit.

The Kashmir Valley has seen turmoil since June, with at least 88 civilians dying, mostly in firing by security forces at protestors.