International - India & World   

Meeting a clear expression of political will: Menon

Nirupama Subramanian

Fourth round of the composite dialogue process under way

— Photo: AFP

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon (left) greets his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammed Khan in Islamabad on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan began a two-day meeting here on Tuesday, launching the fourth round of the composite dialogue process with renewed commitments by both sides to the peace process.

As they went into the meeting at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon expressed the hope that the talks would be "constructive," while his Pakistan counterpart Riaz Muhammed Khan said he was looking forward to "fruitful" talks.

Mr. Menon, who later called on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, said he perceived a "clear expression of political will, on both sides" to take the process forward and to "move our relationship into a phase where we will truly be able to say that we enjoy good neighbourly relations."

According to a Government release, Mr. Aziz told Mr. Menon that his Government was "firmly committed" to the process of the composite dialogue, emphasising the need to make it "more meaningful and result-oriented."

Keen to settle disputes

Pakistan was keen to settle all disputes with India, including the issue of Kashmir, he said.

Mr. Aziz also acknowledged the role of confidence-building measures as "instrumental in improving the ambience and relationship between the two countries."

Mr. Menon said the Pakistan Prime Minister was "good enough" to acknowledge the economic potential of the two countries, but reiterated the Pakistan position that the resolution of disputes would make economic cooperation easier.

Mr. Menon declined to reveal details of the day's talks, saying that a press conference would be held on Wednesday.

Describing the composite dialogue as a process that "walks on three legs," Mr. Menon said confidence-building measures, resolution of conflicts, including the issue of Kashmir, and establishing links between the peoples to build "mutual stakes" had to progress together.

"Frankly, I think the reason this process has moved forward for the last almost three years is because we have done all three things together and we have avoided getting into saying do one first, if you do this, then we can do that. We have moved forward wherever we can and I think we are satisfied with the results of that," he told journalists.

"Stand-alone project"

The two also discussed the progress on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which Mr. Menon said was for India a "stand-alone project" that New Delhi was still examining for its technical and economic feasibility.

"We don't see that project as being linked to the general political situation in the region," he said to a question.

India would like to see the stand off over Iran's nuclear programme resolved peacefully, through diplomacy. "We think that this is possible," he said.

SAARC summit

Mr. Menon also discussed with Mr. Kasuri the April 3-4 SAARC summit in New Delhi, aside from issues concerning the composite dialogue process. "Both agreed that we would like to make SAARC a more effective instrument. We agreed that we would work together to achieve this goal," he said.

Indian officials said the issue of the implementation of SAFTA, on which India and Pakistan have differences, did not come up for specific mention although it figured in the broad range of SAARC-related issues that the two sides discussed.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

China to overhaul legal system
Justice Chaudhary says his hands are clean
More precision raids in Sri Lanka
Russia steps up pressure on Iran
Tsvangirai denied bail
Support Alternative for the Americas plan: Chavez
Sudan behind Darfur abuses, says U.N.
Saudi peace proposal hailed
Japan, Australia sign security accord
Bangladesh politicians face charges
Japan sued for starting war
Italy's new bandits
Kidnappers identified
Meeting a clear expression of political will: Menon
United Kingdom wants India to open up legal market

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu