Sunday, Dec 28, 2003
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By B. Muralidhar Reddy
A visibly pleased Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Riaz Khokar, told journalists at a special briefing that Islamabad had undertaken stringent security measures for the event and was prepared to address special security concerns of any member-country in the light of the two recent attempts in Rawalpindi on the life of the President, Pervez Musharraf. ``There is no change of plans. Participants at all levels have confirmed their presence,'' Mr. Khokhar said at a special press briefing on the SAARC summit. He said no country had expressed any apprehension about the security situation in Pakistan. He was responding to a question on reports that the Indian security agencies had expressed concern over the situation in Pakistan and the advisability of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, travelling to Islamabad at this juncture. Significantly, Mr. Khokar announced that Pakistan was keen on the adoption of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) at the summit and would strive for an agreement at the preparatory meetings of the SAARC beginning on Monday. The Commerce Ministers of SAARC nations, who met on January 23 and 24, failed to finalise the pact, in the wake of serious objections raised by Bangladesh. The Pakistan Foreign Secretary's disclosure on the willingness of Islamabad to endorse the SAFTA triggered a volley of questions from journalists. Was there any change in Pakistan's policy vis-a-vis Kashmir, that it was talking about going for free trade with India? Mr. Khokhar said there was a need to differentiate between free trade in the regional context and free trade in bilateral contexts. ``In principle, we stand for free trade and until we are able to come to a final agreement I cannot say how SAFTA will be implemented. We really have to work out the principles first, and work out the differences and then we are quiet hopeful and confident that we will be able to implement the free trade agreement in the context of the region.'' The Foreign Secretary said the policy on Kashmir had been clearly enunciated by the President and the Prime Minister. ``We don't see any change in our position with regard to Kashmir,'' he said without going into details. On the safety of SAARC delegates and leaders, Mr. Khokar said: ``We are confident that our security arrangements are very comprehensive.'' ``Security is our priority number one. There will be tight and stringent security arrangements during the entire summit period.'' Had Pakistan asked for assistance from any other country to beef up its security? ``We do not need any help from any other country... we are quite capable of taking up our security.'' He said the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and all other leaders would receive a very warm welcome on their arrival. ``We are very hospitable people.'' Asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting of Gen. Musharraf and the Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, with Mr. Vajpayee, he said: ``One should always remain an optimist.'' He said requests for meetings with Gen. Musharraf had been received from the Presidents of Sri Lanka and Maldives and the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Requests for bilateral meetings with Mr. Jamali had been received from Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
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