ISLAMABAD, 18 July 2006 — Pakistan yesterday expressed disappointment over India’s decision to postpone ongoing peace talks between the two South Asian rivals.
“This is a negative development because it has interrupted the ongoing peace process,” Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan told a press briefing in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s disappointment came against the backdrop of a decision by New Delhi on postponement of the peace process, also known as the composite dialogue.
The English-language The Nation newspaper quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam as saying that India formally conveyed the decision to put off the foreign secretary level talks, which were to be held in New Delhi on July 20-21.
The decision to put off talks followed remarks by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a press conference in New Delhi last Friday that the terrorists behind last week’s serial bombings in Bombay had been supported by elements across the border.
Foreign Secretary Khan reminded India that in their April 18, 2005 joint declaration, President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had agreed not to allow the peace process to be impeded by acts of terrorism. He added that the joint declaration had also described the peace process as irreversible. Khan said the peace talks were good not only for India and Pakistan but for the region.
“I am disappointed because I was on my way to New Delhi to discuss the third round of the composite dialogue, which was to begin in January 2007,” Khan said.
“The level of improved relations, big progress in confidence-building measures (CBMs) and several rounds of talks on contentious issues like Kashmir, had required that we should seize the opportunity and also move toward the resolution of the outstanding issues,” Khan said.
Asked what steps should be taken to save the ongoing peace process, he said all India needed to do is to agree to dates for new meetings under the process. “In no way would I underestimate the value and importance of peace process,” he said, while underscoring the need to continue the process. Foreign Secretary Khan also reiterated Pakistan’s offer to help probe what Islamabad has called the ghastly acts of terror in Bombay. Asked about Manmohan’s demand that Pakistan should give a commitment not to let its soil be used for terrorist attacks in India, Khan said: “Pakistan does not allow its territory to be used against any country. This is our firm policy and commitment.”
F-16 Aircraft
Pakistan hopes to start getting F-16 fighters from the United States in late 2007, the country’s air force chief said yesterday.
Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, has requested 18 new F-16s and 26 used jets, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood told a news conference at the air force headquarters in Islamabad.
“We hope to receive the 26 used aircraft in 15-18 months’ time,” Mahmood said, adding that the US Air Force will decommission them and deliver them to Pakistan.
