‘Pak suggested N-disarmament to ensure peace’

‘‘We have suggested (nuclear) disarmament and reduction of forces,’’ said Musharraf, who has repeatedly pledged in the past to defend and strengthen his country’s nuclear and missile capability.

Pakistan also opposes nuclear proliferation and was ‘‘against any other country acquiring nuclear weapons,’’ he told reporters after talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in the northern city of Auckland.

Clark said she hoped recent confidence-building measures between the two neighbours ‘‘might extend into the nuclear arena’’.

New Zealand was the first nation to pass legislation banning nuclear arms and nuclear-powered vessels from its territorial waters.

Musharraf said he was committed to a ‘‘rapprochement’’ with India, and was working with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toward that goal. Progress toward resolving the decades-old Kashmir issue was being made, Musharraf said.

‘‘We see light at the end of the tunnel in our efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute once and for all,’’ he said, adding that the ‘‘opportunity must be grasped’’.

Meanwhile, bare-chested indigenous Maori warriors chanted, rolled their eyes and waved spears in a traditional challenge to Musharraf as he arrived at Government House, while a security helicopter hovered overhead.

Body guards for Musharraf, who has survived two assassination attempts in Pakistan, were ordered to turn over their weapons when the group arrived at Auckland International Airport.

Clark said she raised the issue of women’s rights in Pakistan, where women are frequently the victims of violence and so-called honour killings by family members.

‘‘This is a country with many women in powerful positions, so we do take an interest. So I certainly have been satisfied today that President Musharraf shares that concern and would like to see his country move,’’ she said. —PTI