December 15, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 10, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: Pakistan will sign the “Declaration on non-interference” with Afghanistan at a special ceremony in Kabul next week, sources told Dawn here on Saturday.

Afghanistan’s six immediate neighbours will sign the one-page declaration drawn-up by the Karzai government. Besides Pakistan, the The other five signatories would be, China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Foreign Minister, Mian Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, will leave for Kabul on Dec 22 to sign the Declaration, sources said. The foreign office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, who is also additional secretary for Afghanistan, will accompany him. Pakistan’s signing of this Declaration would be in keeping with the demands of major international players, the UN and its own post-9/11 non-interference policy towards Afghanistan.

The proposed declaration on non-interference was circulated at the Bonn conference earlier this month by the Afghan foreign minister; all concerned ministers accepted it, said a senior Pakistani diplomat who attended the conference.

At the conference, Kasuri had assured his Afghan counterpart that Pakistan would continue with its policy of non-interference in Afghanistan.

President Hamid Karzai had discussed the idea of a non- interference declaration with President Musharraf at the Istanbul ECO Summit in October, government sources said, adding that President Musharraf had fully supported it.

Once signed, the declaration will be open to endorsement by all countries, informed diplomatic sources told Dawn. Karzai government plans to subsequently present the declaration to the UN Security Council to get a resolution passed on it, these sources said.

Foreign policy observers believe that the Declaration was symbolic. It is being seen as redundant given that all signatories to the UN Charter were already bound not to interfere in internal affairs of another country.

The Karzai government is hoping to signal its sovereignty through this Declaration. Incidentally, the timing of this Declaration coincides with a key aide of Hekmatyar expressing his unconditional support to the Karzai government.