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| Tuesday, 02 November 2004 |
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Indo- Pak PMs to meet to push forward peace process ISLAMABAD, Monday (Reuters) Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he would meet his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New Delhi this month to push forward a peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals. Aziz will travel to India and two other South Asian nations after the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, due in the third week of November. "I will go on a tour to India soon after Eid where I will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the leader of their Congress party, Sonia Gandhi," Aziz said. "There will be discussions so that we can take forward the dialogue process." Aziz had been expected to visit India along with other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) before handing over the chairmanship of SAARC at the end of the year. "Obviously, Pakistan's desire is to resolve all issues peacefully with every country, including with India," Aziz told reporters. Pakistan and India, which came to the brink of war in 2002 over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, have been engaged in formal peace talks since January. Aziz also said comments on Kashmir made by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last week were meant to spur discussion inside Pakistan. Speaking to local journalists, Musharraf called for a debate on new ways to solve the dispute, including a possible demilitarisation of Kashmir, followed by transition to joint control, U.N. supervision or independence. India responded by saying it expected such ideas to be raised as part of a dialogue between the two countries rather than through the media. "The hypothetical situations recently presented by President Musharraf are a basis of discussion so that there is a debate in the country, that there should be some 'out of the box' thinking," Aziz said. "This is not a proposal by Pakistan to India to change the basis of Kashmir dispute," he said. |
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