Spain backs initiatives for action at UN: Blasphemous cartoons
By Qudssia Akhlaque
ISLAMABAD, March 7: Spain on Tuesday said it would work with Pakistan for drafting a resolution at the United Nations against defamation of religions and religious symbols and supported Islamabad’s offer to host a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative, of which Spain is a cosponsor with Turkey.
The assurance was held out by the visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos during his meeting here with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.
Addressing a joint press conference after the delegation-level talks, the foreign ministers announced the signing of a protocol on bilateral consultations and international cooperation between the two foreign ministries.
Mr Kasuri, who described his meeting with Mr Moratinos as ‘very fruitful and productive’, said the signing of the protocol reflected the mutual desire to enhance Pakistan-Spain ties.
He said wide-ranging regional and international issues, including war against terrorism, India-Pakistan peace process, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, and Iraq, were discussed at the meeting.
The decisions taken included an agreement to expand defence cooperation, particularly in the area of procurement. The two sides also agreed to work towards an early signing of the revised air services accord that would enable direct flights between Islamabad and Barcelona.
Spain offered to extend micro-credit facility to Pakistan with an initial equity of 10 million Euros.
Referring to the issue of sacrilegious cartoons, Mr Kasuri said the two sides had agreed that there was a need to work together for promoting inter-faith harmony.
He said his Spanish counterpart had responded positively to his request for supporting Pakistan’s idea of a resolution against defamation of religions at the UN. “He has agreed that Spain would work with Pakistan on the text of the resolution,” said Mr Kasuri.
Answering a question, Mr Moratinos said Spain would work with the EU to achieve a final draft resolution on the issue.
“We will try to change the traditional position of the EU and Spain is working on that. We have to work with good spirit in order to get the final compromise and we will do our utmost,” he said.
Mr Moratinos emphasised that while freedom of the expression was a must it had to be coupled with responsibility.
“I can assure the Pakistani people that Spain and Pakistan will work together on the issues of utmost importance such as the need for promoting understanding and dialogue between culture and religions,” he said.
The Spanish foreign minister said his country regretted the suffering of the Muslim communities after the publication of blasphemous cartoons.
He described the agreement between Pakistan and Spain for cooperation within the UN framework to create a better international environment as a significant step.
“Today we can open a new page of long and extremely good relations between Pakistan and Spain,” he said.
Mr Moratinos said there was a large Pakistani community in Spain totalling around 60,000 and his government was happy with their presence there.
He said Pakistani community had benefited from the liberalisation process taking place in his country. He said the Pakistanis were fully integrated with the Spanish society and working well for the benefit of Spain’s economy and development.
On Pakistan’s initiative to host a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative, Mr Kasuri said: “The foreign minister assured me of Spain’s support for the initiative and said he would speak to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in this respect.”
In reply to a question on the Indo-US nuclear deal, he underscored that the principle of equal treatment was a sacrosanct principle in inter-state relations. He asserted that any international arrangement of the type like the departure from NPT should include Pakistan which is a declared nuclear power.
“Pakistan, sir, cannot at the same time be a partner and a target. Either the world needs us as a partner. If it does, then we cannot be a target. And hence there can be no discrimination.”
Mr Kasuri said Pakistan was studying in ‘great depth’ the implications of the Indo-US nuclear deal. He said Pakistan had a large infrastructure for both peaceful and conventional strategic purposes. “We have 6,000 scientists and 55,000 technicians working on it.”
About Afghanistan, he said Pakistan and Afghanistan could live in peace and prosper but one fundamental requirement for that was that never let the level of trust deteriorate. “There are forces in Afghanistan who are trying to affect this level of trust.”
His counsel to Kabul was: “Don’t talk to us through the media. That will help.”
CALL ON PRESIDENT: Earlier, the Spanish foreign minister called on President Pervez Musharraf.
The president appreciated the prompt and substantial support provided by Span for the quake victims.
The visiting minister regretted the publication of blasphemous cartoons which had caused great anguish to so many people around the world.
President Musharraf highlighted the need for expanding bilateral cooperation in different fields, especially economic, defence and technological cooperation. He invited Spain to participate in the Expo 2006 trade fair in Karachi.
