NEW DELHI, 28 December 2003 — India has ruled out a bilateral meeting with Pakistani leaders at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in early January, a foreign office spokesman said yesterday.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will attend the Islamabad summit on Jan. 4-6, Foreign Secretary Shashank told reporters. There had been speculation that Vajpayee would cancel his trip after two recent assassination attempts on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
“Everybody is concerned about the safety of the leaders. But SAARC is a commitment so we have to carry forward the process,” Shashank said.
Musharraf has reportedly reassured heads of SAARC countries that he will make “foolproof” security arrangements, the Indian official said.
“We have received proposals for bilateral meetings from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal ... there is no meeting fixed with Pakistan but obviously there will be occasions when leaders of both India and Pakistan will meet,” Shashank said.
India has taken several steps this year to initiate a dialogue for peace with its nuclear-armed South Asian rival, starting in April when Vajpayee offered a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan, breaking a 16-month deadlock between the two countries.
In November, India and Pakistan called a cease-fire along the Line of Control in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both countries claim.
Shashank said a “composite” dialogue with Pakistan would only be possible after a long-term assessment that cross-border terrorism in Kashmir had stopped and that terrorist training camps in Pakistan were destroyed.
He said there was a “tremendous amount of anticipation about the SAARC summit”, where an agreement on free trade areas and a social charter were expected to be signed. The social charter includes cooperation in the areas of health and poverty alleviation.
“The SAARC declarations will cover the concerns and visions of the member countries. India has a vision of closer economic cooperation. Our main concern is cross-border terror and the training facilities for Indian insurgent groups in neighboring countries. We hope a strong statement against terrorism is made,” the official said.
Senior Commerce Ministry official S.S. Kapoor said only a “few issues” remained to be resolved in the proposed South Asian Free Trade Agreement but hoped they would be sorted out in meetings ahead of the leaders’ summit.
Unresolved issues include anti-dumping measures, safeguards on quotas and the timeframe of a draft agreement, Kapoor said.
“Gradually there is a feeling that South Asia has to move on as elsewhere in the world there are (trading) blocs,” Kapoor said. “If we sign the agreement, it would be a major achievement for SAARC.”
Vajpayee recently said SAARC should move toward establishing a South Asian common currency.
SAARC comprises India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives. The regional grouping had its inaugural meeting in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in 1985. The last SAARC summit was held in January 2002 in Nepal capital Katmandu.
The Katmandu summit was originally scheduled for November 1999, but was put off following India’s protests after Musharraf seized power in Pakistan in a military coup. According to the SAARC charter it is mandatory for heads of all seven countries to be present at a summit.
India Offers Assistance to Iran After Quake
New Delhi yesterday offered assistance including medical teams for Iran where thousands of people were killed in the deadliest earthquake since a tremor hit western India in 2001.
“Whenever Iran wants assistance, India will be ready to provide it,” Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani said.
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Vajpayee both sent Iran condolence messages that also offered aid, said Shashank.
India is prepared to send medical teams that could set up emergency field hospitals, said Lt. Gen. B.N. Shahi, head of medical services for the armed forces.
Shahi told reporters the military had more than 10 million rupees ($220,000) worth of supplies that could be sent within 48 hours upon government request.
Iran has appealed for international assistance after the earthquake Friday devastated the historic southeastern city of Bam, killing more than 20,000 people.
