13 January 2004	Tuesday	20 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 12: Speakers at a seminar on Monday welcomed the recent bilateral initiatives between Pakistan and India and observed that unless the two countries implement the agreements signed by them , it will be quite difficult to create plausible conditions for confidence-building between the two countries.

The EU-sponsored Jean Monnet Project seminar on "EU perspectives on various Asian security issues and endeavours to promote confidence-building measures, conflict prevention and conflict resolution" was organized by the Area Study Centre for Europe of the University of Karachi. It was presided over by Mr M. H. Askari.

It was emphasised that free movement of people, goods, services and capital between India and Pakistan would lead to the deepening of their trust and confidence, as it did in the case on the European Union countries.

Pakistan and India have recently signed several agreements on improving their relations in economic, cultural, political, military and diplomatic areas. Dr Moonis Ahmar in his presentation maintained that the changing scenario of South Asia after the 12 SAARC summit in Islamabad and the new dynamism in Indo-Pak relations may also be a source of reassurance to EU that its efforts for New Delhi- Islamabad normalization will not go waste and the two parties will bear in mind the necessity of keeping the channels of negotiations open even in times of crisis for rebuilding confidence and trust at the official and non-official level.

He said that the EU with a rich experience in the areas of confidence-building, conflict management and resolution is now involved in a low-key role to facilitate a process of dialogue between India and Pakistan and has welcomed the recent steps taken by New Delhi and Islamabad to deescalate tension which gripped their relations after Sept 11, 2001, and the attack on the Indian parliament on Dec 13, 2001.

Quoting EU's chief diplomat Javier Solana's statement in which he had welcomed the resumption of political talks between Pakistan and India as a key step towards peace in South Asia, Dr Ahmar noted that like other players of international politics, European Union has also its stakes in South Asia.

Apart from economic and political interests, EU considers South Asia as the most dangerous region of the world because of the fact that both India and Pakistan are nuclear weapon states and the unresolved conflicts between the two neighbours may trigger the outbreak of hostilities.

Kashmir is considered by the EU a major source of conflict responsible for instability and tension in South Asia. The prevailing atmosphere emanating after the initiatives taken by India and Pakistan to dilute the level of tension in existence since the attack on the Indian parliament, is considered a welcome development by the EU.

Uzma Shujaat, in her paper on EU and the East Timor crisis, said the world had been crying foul over East Timor. It had conveniently ignored the blatant human rights violations in Kashmir. Religion, she said, has become a major factor in global politics whichever way one looks at it.

"It appears that religion has a lot to do with why the Timorese have had referendum and Kashmiris are still being denied the plebiscite". The hypocrisy prevalent within the UN is simply a reflection of global real politic, she said, adding as is the US declaration that Kashmir and East Timor are not similar cases, it is clear that the only way to assert one's rights in this milieu are through indigenous struggle that makes its way into the global consciousness.

In her view the UN has set a dangerous precedent by supporting Catholic separatists on ethnic grounds to form a new state. This clearly shows that UN and the major powers have been guilty of maintaining double standards, she said.

Rubab Hasan dealt with the issue of nuclear proliferation and Iran and the EU's role and perception. However, the Iran's nuclear programme was damaging the EU-Iran ties.

She maintained that the US apprehensions regarding Iran's nuclear programme was answered by a warning from EU against further complications in securing peace in the region. The Iranian foreign minister called on the EU to mobilize its capabilities and resources against US unilateralism.

When the additional protocol will be ratified by Iran, it will provide the IAEA new means to independently verify the declaration made by Iran about its nuclear material and activities, such as unrestricted access to all the reported nuclear facilities and to all necessary information.

She emphasised the need for solving crisis through diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation. Dr Andreas Rieck dealt with EU's endeavours to rehabilitate Afghanistan in the international community: the humanitarian and political dimensions and said that the EU is providing one-third of the Karazai government's recurring budget. The EU achieved a major success in printing Afghanistan's new currency and has helped in fight against narcotics, drugs, etc.

Earlier, Dr Naveed Ahmed Tahir, Director, Area Study Centre for Europe, University of Karachi, appreciated the EU's commitment to multilateralism as its external policy, including disarmament and non-proliferation, etc. But, she said that despite all the rhetorics and good intentions, the EU still has to develop a reputation for genuine impartiality in conflict resolution.