November 6, 2003	Thursday	Ramazan 10, 1424

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BRUSSELS, Nov 5: Domestic politics and Pakistan’s relations with India and Afghanistan topped the agenda in talks between Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and European Union’s external relations chief Chris Patten, here on Wednesday.

EU diplomats said Mr Patten underlined the importance of a new EU-Pakistan agreement but warned that ratification of the two-year old accord by the European Parliament continued to hinge on Pakistan’s democratic credentials.

“The reality of the political situation is that Europe, especially the European Parliament, wants an assessment of the quality of Pakistani democracy,” an EU diplomat told Dawn.

Mr Patten raised the issue of the recent arrest of ARD President Javed Hashmi, the diplomat said.

He also pressed Islamabad to sign a so-called readmission agreement obliging Pakistan to take back any of its citizens found to be illegally in Europe.

Pakistani sources told Dawn that Kasuri provided the EU external relations chief with a comprehensive brief on the evolution of democracy in Pakistan, adding that the “talks were very useful.”

Mr Kasuri insisted that while Pakistan had responded positively to recent Indian confidence-building proposals, they must lead to a process which addressed the concerns of the Kashmiri people.

The foreign minister also highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to a strong and peaceful Afghanistan.

Mr Kasuri will be meeting EU foreign and security policy “high representative” Javier Solana late on Wednesday night for discussions centring on Asian regional security as well as Islamabad’s relations with India and Afghanistan.