Jamali foresees talks with Vajpayee: C’wealth criticized, Karzai’s charges rejected
PARIS, Dec 9: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali said on Tuesday that the forthcoming Saarc summit would be the chance to re-open direct dialogue with India.
In an interview to AFP, Mr Jamali talked about India-Pakistan ties, the US-led war on terrorism, Islamabad’s relations with Kabul and the Commonwealth’s decision to maintain Pakistan’s suspension.
Referring to his telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday, Mr Jamali said he told his counterpart that he was looking forward to bilateral talks on the sidelines of Saarc summit.
“Besides the agenda of Saarc I said I hope we can sit together on the sidelines. Yourself and myself — and also you and my president (Pervez Musharraf). We have set the ball rolling. Let’s see how it comes out,” Mr Jamali said.
The premier said Pakistan had also agreed to resume a ferry service between the two countries and a train link between Sindh and Rajasthan. He said visa services could be boosted and called on India to send over a “fully-fledged mission staff to man the store.”
“I hope, presume and pray that a permanent solution does come about. The people in both countries need it. In the 21st century you cannot think of war. You can’t go on playing with toys and saying there’s war on the way — it’s not on,” he said.
About the terrorism issue, he said the US had taken on too much on its war on terror by committing itself to Iraq at a time when the situation in Afghanistan remains highly unstable.
Mr Jamali, who was in Paris on an official visit, said the US- led forces had failed to follow on their initial successes in Afghanistan nearly two years ago, allowing large parts of the country to remain out of their control.
“If you take a half-hearted measure, it doesn’t come out well. If you take a measure, you have to go ahead with it. So if ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) is only limited to Kabul — well the old days are gone when the capital of country was conquered and you could say the whole country was conquered,” he said.
“The initial thrust — that interest should have remained. But you just can’t keep on spreading it. If you start in Afghanistan and by the time that issue is over you get into Iraq. And by the time that issue is over you want to get into Iran: you can’t do that — it’s not possible.
Mr Jamali reacted strongly to complaints from Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Taliban forces were being sheltered again in remote areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.
“That is a wrong conjecture. We are supporting Mr Karzai in the resurrection and rebuilding of Afghanistan. We have already committed $100 million to them in spite of our constraints.
“But I think Mr Karzai must learn to stand on his own feet. Friends can strengthen his hands, but they can’t hold his feet. He has to have the strength and power to stand on his feet. He has to manage his internal problems. To shift the blame onto Pakistan is absolutely irrelevant, and we don’t agree with it,” Mr Jamali said.
Referring to the Commonwealth’s decision to maintain Pakistan’s suspension from the grouping, the prime minister said the Commonwealth showed a disappointing lack of understanding of the country’s progress to democracy.
“I am disappointed at the lack of knowledge in the Commonwealth. They should realize that Pakistan has moved from a military regime to a civil set-up,” he said.
He recalled that Commonwealth leaders had congratulated him when he was elected prime minister in November 2002, which, he said, was ample proof that there was a genuine process of democratization.—AFP
