April 03, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

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ABOARD PM’S SPECIAL AIRCRAFT, April 2: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that he would have a one-on-one meeting with his Indian counterpart, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday morning.

Talking to journalists travelling with him to New Delhi from Islamabad aboard his special aircraft, the prime minister said there were certain important bilateral issues that he needed to discuss with the Indian prime minister in private.

The two leaders last met on the margins of the 13th Saarc summit in Dhaka in Nov 2005. Mr Aziz will represent Pakistan at the 14th Saarc summit, which opens on Tuesday.

Mr Aziz said that during his meeting with Mr Manmohan, the thrust would be on making the dialogue process result-oriented. High on the agenda would be the issues of Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek, he added.

Noting that relations between India and Pakistan were heading in the right direction, Mr Aziz said: “There is a will on both sides to move ahead and step by step we are heading where we should.”

While agreeing that there was a need to speed up the peace process, he observed: “When you have a long history of issues and trust deficit, you have to tread carefully.” His view was that the two governments were doing what they could to get the `right atmospherics’ for progress on all issues.

The prime minister termed his upcoming meeting with the Indian premier a part of the process to have contacts at the highest level and build rapport on various issues. “Pakistan desires peace and our goal is to have a peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiations, dialogue and diplomacy and this includes the Kashmir issue,” he declared.

“Our wish is that Kashmiris live in peace and any settlement is in line with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”

Mr Aziz was non-committal when asked if any breakthrough was expected at the defence secretary-level talks on the Siachen issue later this week. “Let us not prejudge what will happen. All this is part of a process that should be looked at as a positive development.”

He maintained that the two countries were making progress in many ways, particularly in terms of trade and interaction. “If trade grows there is nothing wrong in that provided it is in line with the positive list which has been expanded to about 1,200 items.”

He made it clear that Pakistan would consider India’s demand for transit facility for its exports to Afghanistan only after there is an improvement in relations.Mr Aziz said the Safta issue would definitely be discussed in the talks. Referring to the Safta framework, he stated: “Local laws of any country override multilateral treaties and when Safta was approved in the cabinet, we made sure that it is subject to the law of the land.”

Asserting that Pakistan was a ‘free trade country’, he said: “We do notice that several countries have non-tariff barriers which prevent flow of trade. Pakistan, on the other hand, is very liberal and very open.”

Mr Aziz said Safta was a step in the right direction, calling upon all Saarc states to develop a level playing field.

SAARC: In reply to a question, the prime minister said: “We are great believers in Saarc and regional cooperation. We think it is through regional cooperation that we can leverage the true potential of South Asia.”

He said presence of major powers like China, Japan, EU and the US in Saarc as observers, signified the importance and potential of South Asia.

The prime minister said he would be meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the sidelines of the summit.

ARRIVAL: On arrival at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport on Monday evening, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was received by Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Mr Shahid Malik, Foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri and Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan were also present at the airport.