ISLAMABAD, April 24: Pakistan will hand over a draft agreement on prevention of incidents at sea and elaborate on its proposals to reduce threats on the Line of Control at the nuclear and conventional expert-level talks with India that begin here tomorrow.
This was announced by Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam at the outset of the weekly news briefing on Monday.
She said Pakistan would approach the talks with a positive frame of mind. “We have put a number of proposals on the table...we intend to bring some more proposals and have good discussions.”
Confirming that the two sides had been discussing reducing risk of accidental use of nuclear weapons, she said: “We feel that it is in the interest of both countries that we do not have a situation where there is any possibility of such an accident.”
The fourth round of Indo-Pakistan expert-level nuclear talks on April 25-26 will be followed by the third round of talks on conventional CBMs on April 27, she said.
Answering a question, she ruled out the possibility of cooperation with India in the civil nuclear field.
The spokesperson announced that technical-level talks focused on operational and logistic details of the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar truck service, Rawalakot-Poonch bus service and meeting points on the LoC would be held in New Delhi on May 2-3.
About the Siachen dispute, she said: “We do hope that when the defence secretaries (of the two countries) meet we will be able to have some forward movement.”
When asked if there was any area of occupied Kashmir in China’s control, her response was: “No, China is not occupying any part of Kashmir.”
Answering a question, she said there were no dates for Indian prime minister’s visit to Pakistan.
She said the Pakistan-US strategic dialogue would be held in Washington on April 26-27.
TIES WITH IRAN: In reply to a question, Ms Aslam said it was President Musharraf who telephoned his Iranian counterpart last week. She was non-committal whether the two leaders had also discussed the Iranian nuclear issue.
“It might have come up but that was not the primary focus of conversation between the two leaders,” she said, adding the call was about the meeting of petroleum ministers of the two countries on the gas pipeline project.
The spokesperson declined to comment on a report in the American media about a secret US plan to combat terrorism, saying it was ‘speculative’. “But,” she added, “we do know that the US has a pre-emptive strike policy as part of its national security doctrine.”
PRISONERS: She said there were 535 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails out of which 467 were civilian prisoners and 59 fishermen. National status of 131 civilian prisoners has been confirmed and 147 are awaiting consular access.
She said the number of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails stood at 614 of which 109 were civilians and 505 fishermen. National status of 300 has been confirmed while consular access is awaited in case of 192, she added.
The spokesperson said there were 13 Pakistani nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay. She said the government now officially had the names of these Pakistanis and had sought consular access.
MEDIATION: When her attention was drawn to Saudi Crown Prince Sultan’s assertion that his country was mediating between Pakistan and India, her response was: “From time to time a number of countries who remain concerned at the possibility of tension for the lack of resolution of the Kashmir dispute have been offering their good offices...they have been encouraging the parties concerned to move forward.”
About mishandling of Pakistani workers in Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia where an increased number of Pakistani women were being raped, she said: “Yes, it is an issue of concern to us and we have been talking to the governments.”
Ms Aslam said Pakistan had asked several countries that if they had a labour requirement they should go through the government as it would provide protection to workers against exploitation by unscrupulous elements.
She underlined that the nature of labour force that the Gulf countries now required had undergone a change from low-skilled workers to technical people as the construction boom was over.
She blamed human traffickers and fake travel/employment agencies for the miseries of workers. She said the government was addressing the issue and would soon crack down on the mafias.
She welcomed the new royal decree in Saudi Arabia to provide full legal protection to rights of workers.
NEPAL: On Islamabad’s position regarding the situation in Nepal, the spokesperson said while Pakistan did not believe in interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, it was nonetheless concerned at the escalation of violence in Nepal.
“We hope that all parties remaining within the constitutional framework of Nepal will find a peaceful solution to the ongoing political crisis,” she said, adding: “Pakistan remains committed to Nepal’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.”
She downplayed the induction of Nato and Isaf forces into the tripartite commission. Underlining the fact that the commission was meant for coordination of activities and operations along borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan, she said Isaf and lately Nato had taken over additional responsibilities in Afghanistan and some more troops from Nato-member states were expected to join.
Answering a question about presence of Nato troops in Pakistan, she said most Nato troops had left Pakistan as did Americans, who were here for earthquake relief work. However, she added, Pakistan might have a contingent of French personnel who stayed back at the government’s request.
The spokesperson said that the Chinese energy minister during his visit to Pakistan would focus on matters relating to reconstruction of quake-hit areas and attend an energy forum.
