October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: Pakistan has conveyed to India its readiness to hold a second round of talks for restoration of air links between the two countries.

Speaking at his weekly press briefing here on Tuesday, Foreign Office spokesman Masud Khan said the Indian authorities had been asked to propose dates for the resumption of aviation talks.

However, the spokesman said the Indian government should also think of restoring train service which would help ease travel between the two countries.

About the prospects of resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India, Mr Khan said it all depended on India, as Islamabad had repeatedly offered to hold talks as a follow-up of the Agra meeting.

The spokesman said the US request for Pakistani troops for Iraq had been under consultations for sometime, but rejected that there were any American pressure on Islamabad in this regard, either directly or through mutual friends.

He said the United States understood Pakistan’s reluctance because of its internal political and other compulsions. Islamabad also wanted to be assured that its decision would prove productive in serving the interests of the Iraqi people and help in restoration of peace and stability in the war-ravaged country, he added.

In reply to a question, the spokesman said the Waziristan operation, conducted by Pakistani forces against wanted terrorists, was a one-day surgical operation in which utmost precautions were taken to avoid causing any collateral damage or violation of human rights. He insisted that the operation followed credible intelligence and avoided hurting villages and population.

Asked whether intimation of Indian prime minister’s participation in the next Saarc summit to be held in Islamabad had been received, the spokesman recalled Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s recent statement as well as Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha’s positive response to the invitation. He said they gave high hopes that Mr Vajpayee would come to Islamabad for the Saarc summit and contribute to its success.

In reply to a question on India’s insistence that Dawood Ibrahim, a wanted Indian criminal and allegedly residing in Pakistan, be handed over to New Delhi in order to improve bilateral relations, Mr Khan said it was based on a wrongly presumed premise.

He recalled that Islamabad had time and again informed New Delhi that Dawood Ibrahim or any other Indian suspect was not in Pakistan and added that India had not provided any proof against those wanted by it.