November 7, 2003	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1424

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BRUSSELS, Nov 6: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri on Thursday called for an early ratification of a new pact between Pakistan and the European Union, saying the long-awaited deal would benefit both sides.

“We need the new agreement with the EU to improve the level of our political nexus. We attach a lot of importance to this,” Mr Kasuri told Dawn after talks with key EU officials.

But the EU would also gain through closer relations with Pakistan given the country’s “moderating role” in the Islamic world, he insisted.

The foreign minister said he was confident of an early ratification of the pact, currently held up by the European Parliament because of concerns on democracy and human rights in Pakistan.

He said he had told key EU officials and members of the European Parliament that Pakistan had the “basic ingredients of a democratic system” but was still in a period of transition.

One way of strengthening these values was through an agreement with Europe, Mr Kasuri added.

The Pakistan National Assembly might not agree to EU demands that Islamabad sign a so-called readmission accord for the repatriation of Pakistanis found illegally in Europe unless there was a deal on the wider EU-Pakistan agreement, he said.

Mr Kasuri also urged the EU to join forces with the US and the UN to help resolve the Indian-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir. “We need a quartet like in the Middle East,” he said.

The EU and the US should warn Israel that the sale of the Falcons system to India was “very dangerous,” he said, adding: “Pakistan will be forced to respond...nobody will be safe, everyone will be poorer.”

He insisted that Islamabad had responded positively to recent Indian proposals for confidence-building measures but said “serious and substantive talks” between the two countries must cover Kashmir.