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| June 6, 2002 | Thursday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 24,1423 |
German FM urges India, Pakistan to reduce tension
BERLIN, June 5: German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Wednesday said that both Pakistan and India should take steps to reduce tension on their borders.
Special Envoy Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari handed over a letter of President Pervez Musharraf to the German Chancellor, on current situation.
Mr Leghari briefed Foreign Minister Fischer on the steps taken by Musharraf against terrorism.
The foreign minister expressed his government’s grave concern at the serious situation in South Asian, specially at the possibility of a nuclear conflict.
Mr Leghari told the German minister that Pakistan had exercised maximum restraint to bring the region back from the brink of disaster. India should give a reciprocal positive response as well, he emphasized.
Pakistan’s readiness to hold dialogue with India for resolving all outstanding differences, including Kashmir, was also reiterated by the special envoy.
The envoy underscored Islamabad’s resolve to hold peaceful negotiation, as President Musharraf had categorically stated that the nuclear option was unthinkable.
Pakistan, the envoy stated, was agreed to any system of international monitoring of the Line of Control.
He said the US, the EU and the international community as a whole could help bring the two neighbours to the negotiating table.
Following his briefing to the German foreign minister, the special envoy talked to the German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Jurgen Chrobog, over lunch hosted by the secretary.
Later in the day, Mr Farooq Leghari separately met Dr Wolfgang Schaeuble, German CDU leader, who is responsible for foreign policy and security policy; Mr Johannes Andress Pflug and Mrs Petra Ernstberger, members of parliament and foreign policy experts from the ruling Social Democratic Party and Mr Christian Schmidt, foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Socialist Union.
Mr Leghari apprised them of the present tension between Pakistan and India, and of various steps taken by Pakistan to curb terrorism and the measures being taken to restore democracy in Pakistan.
The German parliamentarians appreciated the policy of restraint adopted by Pakistan and the steps taken against the extremism in Pakistan.
They welcomed Pakistan’s proposal for international monitoring of the Line of Control.
They, appreciating Mr Musharraf’s acceptance of the Russian leaders proposal, expressed the hope that the initiative being taken by President Putin to facilitate the process of dialogue would be successful.
—APP
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