09 January 2004	Friday	16 Ziqa'ad 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: Japan has welcomed the signing of South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) treaty and the additional protocol to the Saarc Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism which would help in bringing stability to the region.

This was said by Japanese Foreign Minister Ms Yoriko Kawaguchi who called her Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri to greet him on the success of the 12th Saarc Summit which concluded in Islamabad.

Ms Kawaguchi congratulated him on behalf of the Japanese government for the success of the Saarc summit that was hosted by Pakistan. She said Japan had held very high hopes that the success of the Pakistan-India summit would provide fresh opportunities for peace and security in the South Asian region.

"Japan greatly values the efforts that Pakistan has made for peace in the region," she said. The Japanese foreign minister expressed the hope that the process of composite dialogue in future would contribute towards improvement of bilateral relations, including the solution of the Kashmir issue.

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan had worked hard for the success of the Pakistan-India summit meeting. "We made it clear in a joint press statement, which was signed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that bilateral problems, including the Kashmir issue, would be resolved in a peaceful way through dialogue," he said.

He said two serious terror attempts had been made against the life of President Musharraf, within the last month. "We understand that those attacks were a direct result of the uncompromising stand that Pakistan and President Musharraf had adopted against terrorism," Mr Kasuri said.

Reiterating the importance of the fight against terrorism for Pakistan and the international community, the Pakistani foreign minister said Pakistan intended to continue the fight against terrorism.