Natwar hopes peace process to deliver result
From Zeeshan Mirza

KARACHI—External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh on Wednesday refused to set a deadline for resolving the Siachen issue even though he expressed hope that Indo-Pak talks on the issue will move forward.
“There is no deadline for Siachen, but we hope talks will move forward,” Singh told reporters in Karachi before returning home after a four-day visit to Pakistan during which he met President Pervez Musharraf and held talks with his counterpart Khurshid M Kasuri on the Indo-Pak peace process.
A joint statement issued on Tuesdsay in Islamabad, after his talks with Pakistani leaders, said the two sides exchanged ideas on Siachen and agreed to continue their discussions to arrive at a common understanding before commencement of the next round of the Composite Dialogue in January.
Responding to a question, Singh said, “On some issues there can be no hurry. On some others, there is speedy movement.” Referring to the joint statement, he said, “concrete issues had figured in it, which is good for the dialogue process”.
Singh hoped that in coming days and months, there will be further movement in the peace process. “Though there has been some success, it does not mean that all problems have been resolved,” he said, noting that people in both countries wanted the friendship to increase and tensions to end.
Setting the deadline of December 31 for completion of renovation work on the Indian consulate in this Pakistani port city, Singh expressed confidence that the process of issuing visas from Karachi will start from January.
Witnessing the progress of renovation work at the consulate in Karachi, Singh said a direction had been issued to restore the building by December 31 so that the visa office can function from January. “We want visas to be issued from Karachi from January,” Singh said, adding, “This will save people of Karachi from the trouble of going to Islamabad for getting visas”.
Another significant development in the coming eight to ten weeks was going to be the reopening of the Khokhrapar-Munabao rail link.
“The rail link will be a great boon for people of the two sides, particularly those Pakistanis intending to visit Ajmer Sharif,” Singh said. Before leaving for India, Singh called up his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri in Islamabad to thank him for the hospitality and expressed satisfaction over the talks.
Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said Wednesday that improvement in Pakistan-India relations would have salutary impact on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Addressing members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) he regretted that not a single project under SAARC could take off during the past 20 years due to India-Pakistan tensions.
He hoped that with the development of relations between the two countries the contribution of the regional organization would be worthwhile. Natwar Singh urged frequent exchange of trade delegations and visa liberalization for businessmen and professionals of the two countries.
He said bilateral trade was picking up and there were good prospects for cooperation in areas like agriculture, chemicals, textile machinery, hydro power generation, drugs, pharmaceutical and cotton industry. He said Pakistan could export cotton yarn, textile fabrics surgical and sports goods and water coolers to India. India could also look at import of electricity from Pakistan if she had a surplus, he added.
He said New Delhi was ready to discuss the question of non-tariff barriers within the ambit of joint study group set up by the two countries. The minister said India could meet Pakistan’s annual demand of 100,000 vehicle tyres. He suggested that Pakistan should import from India those items that it was getting from other countries.
President FPCCI Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed, Vice President FPCCI Akbar Abdullah and other business leaders as well as a number of diplomats attended the meeting held at a local hotel. Natwar singh said that the present environment was very favorable and improved road, rail, sea and air links between the two countries would help boost the bilateral and regional trade.
He said there had been considerable progress on many issues through the on-going composite dialogue process. The minister invited suggestions from Pakistani businessmen for trade promotion.
He said direct trade through Attari-Wagah, Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Monabao-Khokrapar routes was likely to start soon. Karachi-Mombay ferry service, signing of shipping protocol and expansion of civil aviation service between the two countries would be other steps towards more trade and economic cooperation, he said. Natwar Singh hoped that SAFTA (South Asian free trade agreement) would come into effect from 1st January 2006 following the SAARC summit in Bangladesh next month.
Earlier, President FPCCI, Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed suggested that sensible and like-minded people from both the countries should form pressure groups to influence their respective governments and other political leaders for expeditious and equitable resolution of the Kashmir issue. For creating understanding, goodwill and basis for transacting business he suggested that the present visa system which was very cumbersome and inefficient be liberalized for businessmen and professionals.
The FPCCI president welcomed the decision to open visa offices at Karachi and Mumbai and proposed that warehousing facilities for transit storage be made available at Wahgah border for goods awaiting completion of customs formalities. In reply to a query about easing of visa issuance, the Indian High Commissioner, Shivshankar Menon, said the business visas were being issued within 10 days with non-police reporting.