PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN AND INDIA HAVE AGREED TO OPEN TALKS SAYING THEY ARE CONFIDENT OF SETTLING THEIR DISPUTE OVER KASHMIR

Record ID: 1374622

  • Title: PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN AND INDIA HAVE AGREED TO OPEN TALKS SAYING THEY ARE CONFIDENT OF SETTLING THEIR DISPUTE OVER KASHMIR
  • Date: 6th January 2004
  • Summary: (W3) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (JANUARY 6, 2004) (REUTERS) LV/SLV/SV OF SIGNING AT CLOSING SESSION OF 12TH SAARC SUMMIT (4 SHOTS) SV PULL OUT LV SAARC LEADERS LINKING HANDS LV AUDIENCE APPLAUDING (W4) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (JANUARY 6, 2004) (REUTERS) SV PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER MIR ZAFARULLAH JAMALI ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE LV CONFERENCE HALL MCU (English) JAMALI SAYING: "There have been plenty of misunderstanding and miscommunication but there is one aspect, I am sure that these dialogues have to continue, they will continue, otherwise if we don't sit and have a dialogue, how can we convince India or India convince us? It has only to be through dialogue." SV REPORTERS AND CAMERAMEN MCU (English) JAMALI SAYING: "To put the Pakistan and Indian issue in a box, it's not locked. Let me assure you one thing, and I think President Musharraf from our side and Prime Minister Vajpayee have the master's key. They can open it whenever they feel like." LV CONFERENCE HALL SLV INDIAN DELEGATION NEWS CONFERENCE SV REPORTERS MCU (English) INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER YASHWANT SINHA SAYING: "Prime Minister Vajpayee said that in order to take forward and sustain the dialogue process, violence, hostility and terrorism must be prevented. President Musharraf reassured Prime Minister Vajpayee that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner." SV REPORTERS SITTING MCU (English) SINHA SAYING: "The President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of India agreed to commence the process of the composite dialogue in February 2004. The two leaders are confident that the resumption of the composite dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir to the satisfaction of both sides." SLV JOURNALISTS SV SINHA AND REPORTERS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2014 19:09
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAX6MM9S0III9V5CVKDVZ355AA
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have
    agreed to open talks saying they are confident of settling their
    dispute over Kashmir.




    South Asian leaders wrapped up their first
    summit in two years on Tuesday (January 6), a gathering
    that saw the first talks between nuclear-armed rivals India
    and Pakistan since 2001 and raised hopes for greater
    regional cooperation.

    The seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional
    Cooperation (SAARC) agreed to launch a free-trade area from
    2006, to draw up a social charter for its 1.4 billion
    people and to fight terrorism.

    In a show of unity at the concluding session of the
    three-day summit, foreign ministers linked hands after
    signing the three documents while their leaders looked on
    and applauded.

    But the success of moves towards SAARC's aim of greater
    integration hinges on peace between India and Pakistan, its
    biggest members.

    Officials have declined to give details of Monday's
    (January 5) ground-breaking talks between Indian Prime
    Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President
    Pervez Musharraf, or to say whether they had made any
    progress towards resolving their decades-old dispute over
    Kashmir, the heart of their rivalry.

    But diplomats hailed the agreement as an important step
    towards ending half a century of hatred, but cautioned that
    the two sides were still far apart on fundamental issues.

    Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali
    told reporters that certain plans had been worked out but
    refused to divulge any details.

    "Actually when people from different walks of life
    meet, they do talk about things and chalk out plans and
    only time could prove as to what has come up and it is not
    very far, I assure you," Jamali told a news conference
    after the conclusion of the summit.

    Pakistani diplomats said "detailed discussions" with
    India had taken place in a good atmosphere and both sides
    said the leaders were keen to keep the momentum going to
    repair relations.

    "There have been plenty of misunderstanding and
    miscommunication but there is one aspect, I am sure that
    these dialogues have to continue they will continue,
    otherwise if we don't sit and have a dialogue, how can we
    convince India or India convince us? It has to be only
    through dialogue," Jamali added.

    Two years ago, the neighbours, who have fought three
    wars since independence from Britain in 1947, came to the
    brink of another war over Kashmir after an attack on the
    parliament in New Delhi that India blamed on
    Pakistan-backed militants.

    Ties have gradually improved since April when the
    79-year-old Vajpayee launched what he called a final bid
    for peace in his lifetime.

    Jamali said the bilateral relations were not locked in
    a box and added that both Pakistani President Musharraf and
    Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee held the "keys".

    "To put the Pakistan and Indian issue in a box, it's
    not locked. Let me assure you one thing, and I think
    President Musharraf from our side and Prime Minister
    Vajpayee have the master's key. They can open it whenever
    they feel like."
    Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said the joint
    statement agreed between the two nations addressed their
    major concerns.

    "Prime Minister Vajpayee said that in order to take
    forward and sustain the dialogue process, violence,
    hostility and terrorism must be prevented. President
    Musharraf reassured Prime Minister Vajpayee that he will
    not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be
    used to support terrorism in any manner," Sinha told a news
    conference, reading out from a prepared text of the joint
    statement.

    "The President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of
    India agreed to commence the process of the composite
    dialogue in February 2004. The two leaders are confident
    that the resumption of the composite dialogue will lead to
    peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues including Jammu
    and Kashmir to the satisfaction of both sides," Sinha said.

    Sinha said the details of the dialogue still had to be
    worked out between the two sides.

    In November, Pakistan announced a ceasefire along the
    front line in Kashmir, but violence between security forces
    and Muslim rebels has continued on the Indian side, which
    India accuses Pakistan of fomenting.

    Pakistan denies helping the rebels and accuses Indian
    security forces of widespread human rights abuses in
    Kashmir.

    Past attempts to make peace have often failed under the
    weight of overblown expectations, or because they were
    sabotaged by hawks on both sides.

    Diplomats say both Vajpayee and Musharraf appear keen
    to move forward, but it was not clear if they would find
    any middle ground.

    Vajpayee called for continuous contacts between the
    neighbours, but cautioned that it would take a long time to
    resolve their disputes.

    The framework agreement to reduce or eliminate tariffs
    is the most tangible development to come out of the summit,
    but it will depend on better India-Pakistan relations.

    Under the trade pact, SAARC's developing states --
    Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka -- will cut tariffs to
    between zero and five percent within seven years of the
    start of the agreement.

    Its least developed states -- Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan
    and the Maldives -- have 10 years to complete the process,
    though all members can maintain a list of sensitive
    products on which tariffs will not be reduced.

    SAARC's population makes up about a fifth of humanity
    but most of their trade is done outside the region.

    Business leaders say Pakistan and India's $1.5 billion
    trade through unofficial channels and third countries could
    double with a trade deal and better relations.

    But there are concerns about dismantling trade barriers
    that would allow cheap Indian goods to flood markets and
    analysts say it is far from clear that the pact can be
    implemented.

    While a South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement
    has existed since December 1995, its usefulness has been
    limited, with regional trade averaging just about $3.0
    billion, or less than five percent of SAARC members' global
    trade.

    The agreement followed an ice-breaking meeting on
    Monday between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
    and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines
    of a regional summit. It was their first meeting in more
    than two years.

    Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday (January
    5) said history had been made with a deal to resume talks
    with India, and termed it a good beginning in a bid to
    resolve their dispute over Kashmir.

    "History has been made," Musharraf told a news
    conference. "This is a beginning. This statement is not an
    end in itself, obviously, but a good beginning has been
    made."
    A joint statement said the two sides had agreed to
    start a dialogue in February, although details had to be
    worked out.
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