ISLAMABAD, 19 December 2006 — Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said yesterday that Islamabad was making all possible efforts to improve relations with India.
“We want peace with India and we want to settle all disputes through negotiations,” Aziz said while opening a four-day international conference organized by the ruling party to mark the 100 years of the founding of All India Muslim League.
Aziz spoke about Kashmir, Sir Creek, Siachen and other issues bedeviling relations between the two countries. He aslo spoke about the dams India plans to construct on the rivers that flow from Kashmir to Pakistan.
Referring to the role of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Sir Syed in uniting the Muslims of South Asia under the banner of the Muslim League, the prime minister said the founding fathers of Pakistan made the correct decision to form Muslim League.
Aziz stressed the need to follow Quaid-e-Azam’s principles of “Unity, Faith and Discipline.” He said it was the present Muslim League government that strengthened the economy of the country in the past seven years.
The function was attended, among others, by PML (Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and the party’s Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain Syed. Five hundred delegates from USA, UK, India, Bangladesh, Germany and other parts of the world are taking part in the celebrations.
Pak-China Exercises End
The joint military exercises involving the armed forces of Pakistan and China ended in Abbottabad yesterday.
It was the first time the members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army took part in military exercises outside China. The exercises, dubbed, “Friendship-2006” were designed to evolve new strategies to fight terrorism. The two sides pledged to continue cooperation in fighting the menace, a statement said.
The troops taking part in the exercises staged mock operations against terrorists. The exercises were a “manifestation of our resolve that Pakistan and China stand united to fight and eliminate the menace of terrorism,” said Lt. Gen. Tariq Majid, commander of Pakistani troops in the region, according to a statement issued by the Pakistan military.
The exercises, the first by Chinese troops in Pakistan, were held in mountains near the northwestern city of Abbottabad, where the Pakistan Army has its main training academy. About 200 Chinese soldiers took part.
Senior Chinese and Pakistan Army generals, who attended the ceremony to mark the closing of the maneuvers promised to continue anti-terror cooperation in the future.
China is Pakistan’s key weapons supplier and is helping Islamabad build a second nuclear power plant.
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Pakistan last month when the two countries signed agreements to jointly develop planes that use an Airborne Early Warning and Control System, or AWACS, and set up a Defense Electronics Complex that will develop electronic equipment and communication technology for military use.
Those deals were in addition to an ongoing Pakistan-China project for the co-production of JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft.
Addressing the troops, Chinese Commander of Chendu Military Region Lt. Gen. Lu Dengming said, “The two armies will incorporate new measures in their future military operations and planning. He said during the exercises new concepts of anti-terrorism military operations were discussed.” He said relations between Pakistan and China have grown from generation to generation.
Lt. Gen. Tariq said military cooperation between Pakistan and China was on the increase. He said the exercises proved a success. He expressed satisfaction over professional skills, dedication and commitment displayed by troops from the two countries.
