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Journalism of Courage
New Delhi today expressed hope that the visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would improve relations between the two countries. Aziz may be visiting India as SAARC chairman, but discussions on bilateral issues are imminent.
‘‘We have been always hopeful that all interactions will improve bilateral relations. All our efforts have been in that direction,’’ External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna today said.
The Pakistani Prime Minister had recently said in Colombo that he expected a substantive dialogue on all bilateral relations, including Jammu and Kashmir, in his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Aziz will be extending an invitation to Singh to attend the SAARC summit in Dhaka in January. Bangladesh will take over the chairmanship of SAARC in Dhaka.
Aziz will arrive by a special aircraft on Tuesday afternoon and will have separate meetings with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The proposed gas pipeline project between Iran and India via Pakistan is likely to be discussed during Aiyar’s meeting with Aziz, Sarna said.
On Wednesday, Aziz is expected to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.
Hurriyat leaders are also expected to meet Aziz during his visit. Pakistan had asked the leaders of the moderate and hardline factions to come together for the meeting.
The MEA spokesperson refused to comment on Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri’s suggestion that Hurriyat leaders travel on the inaugural trip of the proposed bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. He said that the bus link was one of the subjects on which technical level talks were envisaged in the second round.
The focus of Aziz’s visit is likely to be SAARC events, according to Sarna, but New Delhi has said that it looked forward to holding ‘‘substantive’’ bilateral discussions during Aziz’s stay here. Both sides had voiced their desire to carry forward the composite dialogue process and go ahead with the schedule of meetings on J-K, peace and security and other outstanding issues.
Aziz’s visit has gained added significance as it comes close on the heels of assertions by the Indian PM in Srinagar that there is no question of re-drawing the international borders or further dividing the country on the basis of religion. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf reacted by saying that Pakistan has not given up its demand for a plebiscite in J-K. Musharraf had earlier suggested at an iftar party that India and Pakistan should identify some regions of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control, demilitarise them and grant them the status of independence or joint control or under UN mandate.
