January 4, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 19, 1422

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KATHMANDU, Jan 3: As tensions mounted between Pakistan and India, Pakistan leader said a regional summit starting in Nepal on Friday must let member states discuss contentious bilateral issues, a Nepalese news agency reported.

President Pervez Musharraf’s stand is in direct conflict with India’s which has opposed any references to mutual issues in the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), saying the grouping was essentially an effort to foster economic cooperation.

Musharraf told the state-run Nepalese news agency in an interview on Thursday Saarc was “crippled” by its inability to tackle such matters.

India, which has mobilised its military along the border with Pakistan after it blamed two Pakistan-based groups for last month’s attack on parliament, has refused bilateral talks even on the margins of the summit, saying Islamabad must first end its support of cross-border terrorism.

“In our opinion, talking to each other about contentious issues is much better than refusing to discuss them,” Musharraf said in a written answer to the Rashtriya Samachar Samiti which was released to reporters by the Pakistani delegation.

He said Saarc — which, besides India and Pakistan, includes Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives — must set up a mechanism to allow for talks between individual members.

The summit has been clouded by the tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan who have put their forces on alert all along the border.

New Delhi has demanded that Pakistan act against the militant groups operating from its soil in the disputed region of Kashmir. Islamabad has denied any involvement in the parliament attack and demanded evidence from India before taking steps against the groups.

Musharraf, who flies into Kathmandu from Beijing on Friday, said terrorism could only be beaten if the causes were tackled.

“My firm conviction is that terrorism or violence is a phenomenon which is bred by a continuation of disputes, denial of rights, political repression, poverty, etc. Unless the root causes of terrorism are eliminated it would raise its head in various forms...,” he said.—Reuters

APP ADDS: President Musharraf said exclusion of bilateral issues from the Saarc process is “a serious handicap” which has crippled the association and added that Pakistan for having a mechanism to discuss and resolve “bilateral issues.”

For any organization to prosper, he said: “cooperation among its constituent units is indispensable. It is with this view that Pakistan has all these years supported the introduction of an acceptable mechanism in Saarc whereby bilateral issues could be discussed and resolved on the basis of justice and fair play.

“In our opinion, talking to each other about contentious issues is much better than refusing to discuss them. Pakistan would still advocate that bilateral issues be taken up in Saarc.”