19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

NEW YORK, May 18: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said on Monday that Pakistan would not rollback its nuclear programme. "We are a declared nuclear power and a responsible nuclear power," he said. "No power on earth can force us to rollback our nuclear programme," the minister said during a question and answer session with the Pakistani community here.

He asserted: "I have said this in the presence of US Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw." Mr Kasuri said both Pakistan and India should be recognized as nuclear powers. "It is not being done as a consequence of the Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty."

He noted that if the reality of India and Pakistan was recognized then they could engage far more gainfully with the international community in achieving the goals of non-proliferation.

Mr Kasuri said that any settlement of the Kashmir dispute would have to take into consideration the wishes of the people of the occupied state. "There will be no durable peace in the sub-continent unless we take into account the aspirations of the Kashmiri people," he said.

When asked why the Islamabad declaration identified only India and Pakistan as parties to the Kashmir dispute and not the Kashmiris, the Foreign Minister said Indian sensitivities on the issue had to be taken into account to work out a compromise agreement.

"The highlight of the declaration was that India, which had regarded the Kashmir issue as its internal matter, conceded, for the first time after 40 to 45 years, that Pakistan was a party to the dispute."

Mr Kasuri also allayed fears that the Congress, which was set to form next government in India, might not be willing to arrive at a settlement on the Kashmir issue in view of its past record.

The foreign minister said the peace process had the support of all political parties of India and that was the message conveyed to the Pakistan government by outgoing prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who had consulted opposition parties before coming to Islamabad.

Moreover, Kashmir now ranks as one of the most dangerous spots in the world and the international community would continue to encourage India and Pakistan to come to a settlement.

Asked whether all political parties in Pakistan supported the Islamabad declaration, he said he had convened a meeting to brief them but some of the parties attended the meeting while others chose to stay away.

Mr Kasuri also rejected an argument that like Macedonia which, in the name of counter-terrorism, had killed six Pakistanis and an Indian just to please the United States, Pakistan killed people in South Waziristan at the behest of the Americans.

"We don't want to earn anybody's goodwill by killing our own people," he said. Mr Kasuri condemned the killing of the Pakistanis, but noted that Macedonia had itself brought the scandal out into the open and hoped that the culprits would be brought to justice. The Pakistan government would continue to pursue the case, he added.

During the session, a number of questions were asked about the difficulties being faced by Pakistanis since 9/11, including problems in obtaining the US visa. He said that he had already taken up the matter with higher authorities in the United States.