KARACHI, Feb 8: The European Union wanted strong political system and an independent judiciary to flourish in Pakistan, desired peaceful resolution of Kashmir , and hoped that the country would take advantage of the readmission negotiations for checking illegal immigrants.

This was stated by EU ambassador to Pakistan, Illkka Uusitalo, while speaking on "New developments in the European Union and EU-Pakistan relations" at the Area Study Centre for Europe of the University of Karachi on Tuesday.

In his wide-ranging speech, covering the EU's structure and policy initiatives, its relations with Pakistan, and the Iranian nuclear issue, Mr Uusitalo told a questioner that Kashmir was a constant agenda in EU's meetings with Pakistani and Indian governments, but he ruled out its role as a mediator or a facilitator in resolving the issue.

"Solution has to come from within the region, and we support initiatives for peace", said the EU envoy, who was optimistic that as a result of the ongoing negotiations between Pakistan and India, the two countries would be able to find a peaceful solution to this outstanding issue, as it would also help foster progress and development activities in the region.

He said this would also result in enhancing regional cooperation in the shape of SAARC, besides contributing towards free trade among the member countries.

Mr Uusitalo said that the EU was extending a grant of 30 million Euros annually towards various development projects in Pakistan with main emphasis on education, adding that its scope might be enlarged.

Terming the Pakistan-EU relations "very good" with trade balance to the advantage of Pakistan, he said: "Key issue is trade which to the tune of 5 billion Euros, is very heavily in favour of Pakistan. In exports, we are number two after the United States, while overall trade at the moment is 5.1 billion Euros annually, and out of that Pakistan's exports are worth 2.9 billion Euros and the EU exports to this country are worth 2.2 billion Euros. So it is very beneficial to Pakistan because it is surplus by about 700 to 800 million Euros in your favour."

"With the new General System of Preferences, which is to be introduced soon, Pakistan will benefit more," said the EU ambassador, adding that the GSP was still under consideration at the European Commission and actually within the member states of the EU.

"We expect that there will be a final decision on the exact details of this new scheme within next few weeks. It will be enforced from July 1 this year. Actually, there is an idea to have it enforced in April, especially in view of assisting some of tsunami-affected countries", the EU ambassador later told newsmen. He was of the view that Pakistan would benefit from the normal general GSP scheme. However, there was very little probability that Pakistan at the moment would qualify for the GSP plus.

When asked about the reason, he maintained that the GSP plus was meant for small and vulnerable economies and to support their further development. To qualify for the GSP, he said a country had to be "fully transparent, WTO compatible, and we cannot tailor-made this kind of system for any single country, and that this has to be a general type of conditions".

He said that recent visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Europe was very important, as it provided opportunity for discussing all aspects of mutual relations.

In the context of WTO, the ambassador said that the EU had programmes in Pakistan for creating awareness on the issue. He made it clear that there was no linkage between trade relations and readmission agreement for checking illegal immigrant.

The EU envoy also told a questioner that readmission agreement negotiations had moved ahead, and claimed that it was in Pakistan's own interest because the system would help to verify the status of the person and determine his true nationality, adding that it did not mean mass repatriation of illegal immigrants. How to verify the status and in what time frame, was the question, he said and also referred to experience with Sri Lanka.

To a question, he said that the EU did not support unilateralism. It stood for multilateralism for addressing various international issues. He stressed that the UN and its Security Council should have a central role in it.