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| Thursday, 22 July 2004 |
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Pakistan pledges peace with India as South Asia FMs meet to end poverty ISLAMABAD, Wednesday (AFP) Pakistan pledged to live up to peace pledges with rival India as South Asian foreign ministers began talks Tuesday on lifting the region's 1.4 billion people out of poverty, seizing on the momentum of fresh dialogue between the nuclear giants. "I want to assure all members of SAARC and indeed the world that Pakistan is committed to pursuing peace with India," prime minister of host nation Pakistan Chaudhry Shujaat said as he inaugurated the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's (SAARC) 25th Council of Ministers. "Pakistan has under the leadership of President Musharraf embarked on making meaningful efforts to overcome all differences and disputes with India including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir," Shujaat said. "Let us resolve that SAARC must become a symbol of peace and progress, not only to ensure stability in South Asia but to win the hearts and minds of the people of this region." Musharraf, who met the visiting foreign ministers, called for devising a SAARC mechanism to peacefully resolve bilateral disputes. "The President underlined the importance of peace, security and confidence building for achieving the goals for SAARC," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters. The charter of the 19 year-old grouping bars discussions on contentious issues. Musharraf said "there was need to institute a process of confidence building among member states and pay increased attention to preventive diplomacy and peaceful settlement of disputes," Khan said. "SAARC has started to exude new confidence and its international profile has enhanced," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said in his opening address. The seven nations represent one-fifth of humanity and one of the world's poorest regions. The two-day meeting is focussed on reducing poverty by freeing up trade, sharing energy, promoting investment and jointly developing information technology and telecommunications. The foreign ministers are also pushing forward a free trade agreement, under which barriers will start being broken down from January 2006. |
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