Pakistan rejects preconditions

ISLAMABAD - Rejecting the Indian preconditions for resumption of Indo-Pak peace process, Pakistan on Thursday said constructive engagements between the nuclear neighbours were vital to durable settlement of Kashmir and other disputes. In reaction to Indian External Affairs Ministers statement that Pakistan would have to show seriousness to curb terrorism, the Foreign Office Spokesman, Abdul Basit said, Pakistan can also do the same as Indian Foreign Minister said but as a responsible country it believes in a constructive and positive dialogue for a comprehensive resolution of problems to bring stability in the region. We hoped that in the days ahead both countries would again engage in irreversible dialogue process which would be result-oriented, he said. On cooperation with India to curb terrorism, he said Pakistan was the country most harmed by terrorism. If India wants a joint mechanism to eliminate the menace both countries will have to start looking at the things objectively, he said. Terrorism was the common enemy and it needed joint efforts to overcome and bring peace and stability in the region, he added. To a query, Basit said New Delhi had responded to Islamabads questions on investigations into the Mumbai attacks but those replies were in Hindi and other local languages spoken in India. Therefore, Pakistan has asked India to provide English translation of these documents, which are received by Pakistan on May 20 so that we could proceed further in this regard, he said. On safety of Pakistans nuclear weapons, the spokesman said those were in very safe hands. Pakistan needs this deterrence for its security and will continue to maintain minimum credible deterrence for this purpose, he said. Answering another query, Basit said Pakistan attached great significance to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) process and supported a trance-regional cooperation especially in the field of security and development. Pakistan will actively participate in its next meeting being held in Moscow next month and we hope that it will come up with solid suggestions and proposals for regional cooperation in the field of security and development, he said. When asked about the Indian involvement in the terrorist activities in Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and Swat, he said, Pakistan is probing this issue and it will disclose the results of this investigation at an appropriate time. On the visit of French President to Pakistan later this year, he said that was being worked out and the two sides were also working to finalise a framework agreement that would cover all areas of cooperation. To a question on cooperation from international community to help the internally displaced persons of Swat, Basit said that 225 million dollars pledges had been made by the donors for that purpose so far in response to appeal by the United Nations. On Dr Aafia case, he said that Pakistans embassy in Washington had been pursuing that matter and efforts were afoot to bring her back to Pakistan. In his opening statement, he said that Trilateral Summit between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan recently held in Tehran concluded with the resolve to find a regional solution with the participation of the three states for the establishment of peace, stability and tranquillity in the region. He said the three countries would now work under the supervision of the three foreign ministers to evolve suitable mechanisms to achieve the goals set by the trilateral summit. He said the next summit would be held in Islamabad in October this year.

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