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| November 6, 2003 | Thursday | Ramazan 10, 1424 |
India can opt talks format: Kasuri
LONDON, Nov 5: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has expressed Pakistan’s readiness to enter into “bilateral, trilateral or multi-lateral” talks with India to resolve outstanding issues including Kashmir.
He was speaking to Pakistan Parliamentary Group in the House of Commons soon after his talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Tuesday.
During his talks with British MPs, he dilated on various issues including Kashmir, Pakistan-India relations, war against terrorism, Afghanistan, the WTO, and national issues and also answered their questions.
Mr Kasuri said Islamabad was ready to listen to the international community and could have “bilateral, trilateral, multi-lateral talks” with India, and New Delhi “can choose the format of talks”.
Pakistan, he said, was ready to make peace with India as war between the two nuclear powers would have disastrous consequences. The two countries need to talk and the international community should encourage the dialogue.
He said the two South Asian neighbours had not been able to solve their problems through bilateral dialogue. The Indus Basin treaty between the two countries was a good example, which was inked through the involvement of the World Bank.
Pakistan would continue to raise Kashmir issue at the international forums as it was an international dispute and could be solved only by respecting the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said Pakistan was committed to the UN resolutions on Kashmir issue and the major countries like the US, the UK and the EU could have a look at the resolutions and tell Islamabad what it needed to do to realize the objective stated in the resolutions.
Questioned on the UK’s role, he quipped Pakistan had very good relations with it hence Britain could do much more.
Responding to a question on the expansion of the UN Security Council, the foreign minister said he was not in favour of extending veto power.
He said the UNSC should be made more representative by giving regional representation to the countries.
On fighting terrorism, he said that it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the Army had gone into the tribal areas for conducting operation against the suspected Al Qaeda members.
However, he said, Pakistan’s capacity to carry out operation in the rugged terrain needed to be increased. He regretted that some countries which had promised to provide it with requisite equipment in this regard had not done so.
On Afghanistan, he said, Islamabad fully supported the Bonn Agreement, but told the MPs that it were the Pukhtuns who were in majority there, and they had created the state of Afghanistan.
He said a stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan as it would like about two million Afghan refugees to return to their homeland with safety and honour.
Pakistan, he said, did not support the US war against Iraq and instead had called for giving more time to the UN inspectors working to find out weapons of mass destruction.
Questioned on the WTO conference in Cancun, Mr Kasuri said that promotion of international trade was good, but the developed world had to take into account the level of economic development of the developing countries.
He said an average per capita income in Pakistan and India was about $500 while the EU was giving $927 as subsidy for one cow in Europe.
How could one have free trade under such conditions, he posed a question.
On Islamabad’s suspension from the Commonwealth, he said, it had fulfilled the requirements of the Harare Declaration. Elections were held and elected governments were in power both at the Centre and at the provincial levels, he added.
Tom Cox, the chairman of Pakistan Parliamentary Group, assured Mr Kasuri that the group would continue its efforts for bringing Pakistan back into the fold of the Commonwealth, and said a delegation of British MPs would soon visit Pakistan.
—APP
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