ISLAMABAD, 30 Novemer 2003 — Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali yesterday said the Kashmir dispute should be resolved according to the United Nations resolutions and with active participation of the Kashmiris.
In an interview with a TV channel, the prime minister said Pakistan wanted the implementation of UN resolutions to resolve the core issue and longstanding dispute of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Prime Minister Jamali said resumption of meaningful and result-oriented dialogue between Pakistan and India was a must for peace and stability in the region.
Replying to a question about SAARC summit, the prime minister hoped that Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee would attend the summit and relations between the two countries would improve.
He said that there were many difficulties on the road to peace but emphasized the need to take measures to promote mutual trust and find new avenues for a peaceful resolution of the lingering Kashmir dispute and other issues.
He said there was need to resolve the outstanding disputes through political and diplomatic channels.
Replying to a question about the parliamentary system in Pakistan, the prime minister said Parliament was an institution which had been revived after three years. The Parliament should be run peacefully and with honor to strengthen the democratic system in the country, he said.
He said the country had been passing through a transitory phase and needed time to strengthen the democratic system.
Regarding water distribution between provinces, theprime minister said there were limited resources of water in the shape of the Indus River and it had to be distributed according to the requirements of the provinces.
He said Kalabagh dam would benefit every province as it would end the water shortage all over the country. He regretted that it hadbeen made a political issue.
Pakistani, Indian Officials to Hold Talks on SAPTA
Indian and Pakistani officials will meet in the Nepalese capital Katmandu on Tuesday for talks on the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA).
But before that, the sixth meeting of the Committee of Experts comprising directors general/joint secretaries of the seven countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will be held in Katmandu today and tomorrow to finalize a draft treaty framework of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
The meeting between Indian and Pakistani officials, the fourth one of its kind, will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Indian team includes S.S. Kapur, joint secretary of the department of commerce, Prabhu Dayal, joint secretary (SAARC) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and two directors from the department of commerce.
The negotiations are expected to include textiles since K.K. Jalan, joint secretary at the Ministry of Textiles, would also participate.
SAPTA, conceptualized at a summit in Colombo in 1991, had its framework agreement finalized in 1993 and came into operation in December 1995.
It aims to remove discriminatory practices and non-tariff barriers and extends deeper tariff concessions to products that are actively traded or likely to be.
Of the seven SAARC nations, India has the largest number of products covered under the agreement — a whopping 2,402 — with the depth of tariff concessions ranging from 10 percent to 100 percent.
Pakistan has 685 products and tariff concessions range from 10 to 30 percent.
To facilitate SAPTA and eventually SAFTA, the SAARC Secretariat this week signed an agreement with the German national metrology institute Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt to agree upon regional standards in the SAARC.
Five Family Members Killed Over Marriage Dispute
Five members of a family, including a woman and her teenage daughter, were killed by their relatives over a marriage dispute in Pakistan’s central city of Multan, a news report said yesterday.
The bloody incident occurred on Friday, a day before the wedding was to take place in the area of Moza Mati Tal, the English daily “Dawn” reported.
The wedding was to take place yesterday.
The bride and her grandfather died at the scene while two others, including the teenage girl, succumbed to their injuries at a hospital. Four others were wounded.
