14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, May 13: Ambassador and head of the European Commission delegation in Pakistan, Mr Ilkka Uusitalo, here on Thursday expressed the hope that poll results in India would not derail positive dialogue process between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Speaking at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs on "the EU-Pakistan relations", he also assured EU's help in resolving outstanding issues provided both the countries made such a request.

He said the EU had expressed support to the initiatives taken to improve relations between India and Pakistan and hoped that this process would continue so that solutions could be found to all issues of concern between the two countries.

"We very much hope that the surprise results announced today after elections in India, would not in any way derail or delay the process," he said. Recognizing Pakistan's role in fight against terrorism, the EU ambassador offered cooperation in this field to Pakistan and hoped that shortly an agreement could be concluded on technical assistance in the context of UN Security Council resolution 1373.

He also welcomed the measures taken by Pakistan to stop nuclear technology proliferation. On political developments in Pakistan, the EU representative said that the Union had closely followed developments, including agreement on the LFO and president's promise to fold away his army uniform by the end of this year.

"We consider these as important steps in strengthening the democratic process and in the full transfer of power to the democratic civilian government and the parliament. At the same time, we have expressed, our concern about the judicial process and conviction of the opposition leader (Javed) Hashmi.

Human rights were also area of concern to the EU, he said, adding when the European parliament ratified the cooperation agreement, it also passed a critical resolution on the situation of human rights and democracy in Pakistan.

He was of the view that there was a growing awareness in Pakistan of the need to address human rights violations, like violence against women and more should be done to take assertive action in addition to statements.

VIOLENCE: The European Union representative also expressed concern over violence in Karachi during by elections. "We have noted with concern events in Lahore just a couple of days ago.

It is unfortunate that just yesterday the byelections here in Karachi were marred with violence," said Mr Ilkka Uusitalo. The EU, he said, had conveyed its concern to the election commissioner in Islamabad.

He claimed that the EC had stated that he was doing his best to ensure that the byelections were conducted in a free and fair manner. But, he emphasised that political parties should also take responsibility because the government alone could not be held responsible for that.

EU TIES: Referring to the European Union's relations with Pakistan, ambassador Uusitalo also referred to the visit of the EU's troika to Islamabad to reinforce interest in continuing high-level political dialogue with Pakistan.

He said the recent conclusion of third generation agreement provided a good basis for further strengthening of these relations.

The EU representative justified the anti-dumping duty against Pakistani bed-linen exporters, but said the situation could be reviewed on the basis of evidence of investigations and guarantees.

Talks in this regard were under way with the commerce ministry, Mr Uusitalo said. "The EU could review the situation on the basis of evidence of investigations and guarantees and full and transparent cooperation from the concerned industry," he said.

Uusitalo said EU-Pakistan Cooperation Agreement of April 22, 2004 laid down respect for human rights, democracy, cooperation in trade, development, and political dialogue. A EU-Pakistan joint commission being set up will hold its first meeting soon to ensure implementation of April 22, 2004 agreement.

He said the EU was by far the largest donor and trading partners of Pakistan. He said the EU development programme for Pakistan in year 2003-04 was 75 million Euros, including aid for education improvement.

"We have launched 22.9 million Euros livestock programme in agriculture sector," he said. He said 27 per cent of Pakistan's exports were to EU member states and the balance of trade was in favour of Pakistan (800 million Euros per annum). Presided by Fatehyab Ali Khan, the seminar was also addressed by Rashid Soorty and Ms Sanam Noor.