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ISLAMABAD, July 1: President Pervez Musharraf held talks on Monday with Prime Minister of Thailand Dr Thaksin Shinawatra on boosting bilateral trade, rebuildling Afghanistan and tensions with India.
“The current tension between India and Pakistan figured in our talks,” President Musharraf said while speaking at a joint press conference along with Thaksin Shinawatra.
“I briefed the prime minister about various measures taken by Pakistan to defuse the tension and desire of Pakistan to avoid conflict in the region.”
“We agreed that all Pakistan-India differences including the Kashmir dispute should be resolved on the basis of justice and fair-play through peaceful means.”
Both sides highlighted the urgent need for de-escalatory measures to be adopted by the two countries, the president said.
Responding to a question, Musharraf said Pakistan was ready to hold talks with any government in India with a view to improving relations between the two countries.
The president was asked how did he see the hardliners like Mr Advani becoming the deputy prime minister of India and whether it would be more difficult for Pakistan now to normalise relations with India as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was losing his grip on important issues.
“We are ready to talk to any Indian government which is ruling the country,” he said.
The president, nevertheless, pointed out that hardliners in India had scuttled all peace moves, specially when he was in Agra last year.
“We did not succeed despite moderate views of Mr Vajpayee, as behind the scene hardliners prevailed,” he said.
“But whichever leadership exists in India, we are ready to talk to it for resolving our differences,” he added.
THAI PM: To a question, Prime Minister Dr Thaksin Shinawatra said his country wanted peaceful resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan.
Asked to comment on gross human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, he said: “We are far away from Pakistan and India to do any thing except to say that both the countries should try to establish peace in the region.”
The Thai prime minister said the major problem in India and Pakistan was poverty which needed to be given full attention. “We would like to see a peaceful subcontinent,” had added.
To a question, the Thai prime minister said some people were killed in recent clashes between his country and Myanmar. “But my government is making sure that no such incident takes place in future,” he added.
OSAMA NOT IN PAKISTAN: To a question, President Musharraf said Osama bin Laden was not hiding in Pakistan as many people wrongly believed.
“I doubt if Osama is alive, but if he is alive he cannot be in Pakistan,” the president said.
He said it would be a conjecturing to say that Osama was hiding in border areas of Pakistan. “This is my guess and my guess will be as accurate as that of you about the whereabouts of Osama if at all he is alive,” the president told a foreign journalist.
“If he was alive, he obviously would be moving with a large entourage of local people and therefore they would like to have a safe haven, a large area for themselves,” the president said.
“He cannot be hiding in one small corner of Pakistan in the border areas, and his remaining there without being found is also impossible.”
He pointed out that it was difficult to have real facts and ascertain the reliability of reports appearing every now and then about Osama. “But I would again tell you that he (Osama) cannot be in any part of Pakistan,” he insisted.
The president said it appeared that some people in their individual capacities were providing support to Al Qaeda people. “Maybe few people are hiding out there but a large number of people cannot have sanctuaries within Pakistan,” he said.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, President Musharraf said he held fruitful discussions with the Thai prime minister to further improve political and economic relations between the two countries.
He said both sides had decided to enhance cooperation, specially in the field of trade, information, culture and tourism. The president said a MoU had also been signed for cooperation in tourism.
President Musharraf said there was a need to bridge the trade gap which was currently in favour of Thailand.
“I have also briefed the Thai prime minister about the latest situation with regard to India-Pakistan relations and the situation in Afghanistan,” the president said.
The president said the Indian government was required to take steps to resolve issues including the core issue of Kashmir. “I have told the Thai prime minister that India should start dialogues on Kashmir and also take de-escalatory measures to reduce tension in the region”.
The Thai prime minister in his opening remarks said his country wanted to enhance economic relations with Pakistan. He also said that Thailand would consider making investment in Pakistan in different fields.
