22 January 2004	Thursday	29 Ziqa'ad 1424

KALAT, Jan 21: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said the peace process between Pakistan and India would not be affected with the change of government after elections in India.

He was speaking to newsmen after performing the ground-breaking ceremony of a gas supply project for Kalat township at Kalat palace on Wednesday. In reply to a question, he said Indian Minister for External Affairs Yashwant Sinha had assured that the change of government would not affect the negotiations process between the two neighbouring countries.

Answering another question, he said: "I think initially dialogues would be held on secretaries' level." Asked about erecting of a fence at the Line of Control (LoC) by the Indian Army, the prime minister said Islamabad had formally informed the United Nations about its concerns on the issue. Mr Jamali said that during the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Vajpaee and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, he took up the issue with them and informed them of Pakistan's reservations on the issue.

India should not take the benefit of the cease-fire, and must stop this process, he said. When his attention was drawn to the increasing prices of petroleum products, the prime minister said he himself was concerned about the prices of petroleum products in the country. "This increase in the prices was creating difficulties even for the government."

He said this issue would be taken up at the cabinet meeting next week and a strategy would be devised to control and stabilize the prices. The government, he said, was making efforts to provide maximum facilities to the undeveloped areas of the country, including Balochistan.

The government wanted to lay a network of roads and highways across the province and link Gwadar port with Karachi and other parts of the country and then with the central Asian states by road and rail.

He said the Pakistan Railways was conducting a survey to link Chaman with Kandahar. The government, he said, was also considering a plan to use Khojak tunnel for vehicular traffic. "There is enough space for building road along the rail track." This road link, he said, would shorten the distance between Quetta and Chaman.

Speaking at the groud-breaking ceremony, he said successive governments had made announcements for providing natural gas to Kalat many years ago, but the project was never implemented.

"We promised to provide gas to Kalat and today we are fulfilling our promise," said Mr Jamali, adding the project would be completed as soon as possible.

He said a compressed natural gas station would be set up at Zhob on a trial basis to provide the facility to the area. Previously, he pointed out, the government planned to set up a CNG station in the Ziarat Valley but now Ziarat would be linked to the main supply network.

The Kalat project would cost Rs470 million. According to the plan, a 90-km-long and 8-inch diameter pipeline would be laid down for connecting Kalat township with the main distribution system.

Earlier, Sui Southern Gas Company Managing Director Munawar Basir Ahmed said the project would benefit over 3,200 customers. The work on the project would be launched soon and it would be completed by February 2005, he added. JUI leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri also spoke.