Pakistan links trade to progress on Kashmir
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Activists of All party of Hurriyat conference (APHC) shout slogans
during a demonstration in Srinagar, India, Friday, March,30, 2007.
Dozens of supporters of APHC took to the streets to protest against
the alleged human rights violations by the Indian security agencies
in the Indian portion of Kashmir. -AP
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Pakistan last week spoke of forward movement in the Indo-Pak dialogue
process but linked free trade with India to progress on the "core" issue
of Kashmir. "Trust deficit is reducing. We need to work together to
reduce it further... We want to make it zero," Pakistan Prime Minister
Shaukat Aziz said .
Aziz, here for the SAARC Summit, told a questioner during the
hour-long interaction mostly covering bilateral ties, that "trade is
linked to progress on Kashmir." The Pakistan Prime Minister's comments
came in the backdrop of his country's refusal to implement South Asia
Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in relation to India, an issue that has
been discussed in bilateral talks since last year.
As for the dialogue on Kashmir and other issues, Aziz said it was
moving forward and the two countries are engaged in "public and not in
public". However, he refused to quantify the progress when asked to give
a sense of the forward movement on the dialogue process.
"We are getting there... Things are moving. It is a process. We are
moving step by step," he said. Aziz repeatedly described Kashmir as the
"core" issue, which needed to be resolved as per the wishes and
aspirations of people of the state.
Asked who, in his view, represented the people of Jammu and Kashmir,
he refused to get into specifics of "who represents Kashmiris".
Besides Indo-Pak ties, Aziz faced a volley of questions on terrorism,
suspension of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, troubled relationship
with Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf's refusal to shed the
uniform and Pakistan-US ties.
On Kashmir, Aziz said several proposals, including joint control,
self governance and joint consultative mechanism, were being discussed.
The discussions also cover Siachen, Sir Creek and other issues and the
"trust deficit is reducing".
"Kashmir is the major part of discussions we are having," he said,
adding Pakistan believed that resolving the issue would improve overall
atmosphere. Terming Kashmir as a "key dispute", he said dispute
resolution was important for a sustainable, expanded relationship
between New Delhi and Islamabad.
"Kashmir is the core issue. People may not like us to say this. But
that is the reality," Aziz said. He emphasised that the focus should now
be less on the process and more on the end result. "There is more
interaction, the level of comfort is higher, disputes talked about and
people are travelling more frequently".
HINDU
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