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Spokesperson Briefings

Date: 04/04/2006

RECORD OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON ON 04 APRIL 2006

No statement was made in the beginning, and the Press Conference opened with Question/Answer Session.

QUESTION/ANSWER SESSION

- Asked about the tour itinerary of the visiting US Under Secretary Richard Boucher to Pakistan, and whether he would call on the President of Pakistan and politicians as well, the Spokesperson said:

US Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher has already arrived in Islamabad. He is calling on the Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary today. He will have some further engagements in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tomorrow. Mr. Boucher will also meet a cross-section of Pakistani officials and will have media engagements. He has recently taken over the expanded bureau of South and Central Asia. He is undertaking the visit in his new capacity. This visit would provide an opportunity to review bilateral relations and follow-up on a number new initiatives greed upon during President Bush's visit last month.

- Asked about the current status of Pak-Afghan relations, the Spokesperson said:

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are very good. Both sides realize that this is a vital relationship and we are working on further improving the bilateral relations.

- Asked whether there was any development on the issue of Pakistanis that were killed in Afghanistan the last month, the Spokesperson said:

Afghanistan activities have informed us that the commander in Boldak, suspected of involvement in the killing of Pakistanis has been removed from his office and put under house arrest. Two inquiry commissions have also been set up to look into the matter. One inquiry commission has been appointed by the Afghan Ministry of Interior and second by the Governor of Qandhar.

- When her comments were sought on the reported statement by All Parties Hurriat Conference Leader Mirwais Umer Farooq that China should be made a party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and whether Pakistan agreed with his observation that China was in occupation of a large chunk of the Kashmiri territory, the Spokesperson said:

According to the United Nations resolutions there are only two parties to the Kashmir dispute, that is Pakistan and India. Of course, Kashmiris are a party because it is a question of their right of self-determination. In a way, the entire international community is involved in encouraging a settlement of the dispute.

I have seen Mirwaiz's interview. He did not refer to any chunk of territory of Kashmir being with China. His argument for associating China with the peace process was that China is a big player and the largest and the most influential country in the region.

- Asked again, with reference to Mir Waiz's Statement, whether Pakistan shared his optimism that a framework for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute was possible this year, the Spokesperson said:

We are always optimistic and we do hope that there will be forward movement.

- When her comments were sought on the news reports that the US was seeking an observer status in SAARC, and whether it was prudent to give that status to a Pacific power rather than the neighbouring country e.g. Iran, the Spokesperson said:

We have not yet received formal information from the SAARC Chair about the US application. We would know about this when the Standing Committee meets in the next 10 days. The first question before the Standing Committee would be to set the criteria for observer status and admit China and Japan as observers. Their applications have already been approved by the Summit. New applications would be considered after that.

- Asked whether the spirit i.e. to reduce tensions and the defence expenditure, had been achieved with the on going peace process between Pakistan and India and repeated missile tests by Pakistan, the Spokesperson said:

The spirit behind the peace talks is not just reduction of tension; it is resolution of disputes, particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Naturally, once we have movement towards resolution of disputes there will be reduction in the tension and we do hope there won't be any arms race. As far as missile tests are concerned, these are part of Pakistan's minimum credible deterrence.

- Asked whether there was any reduction in the human rights violations in the Indian Held Kashmir in the wake of the onset of the current dialogue process, the Spokesperson said:

It was being alleged that violence inside occupied Kashmir was linked to the so called cross-border infiltration. There is acknowledgement by India that infiltration has ended or has significantly decreased. Consequently, we expect that human rights violations would also come down. Relief to the Kashmiris is a priority for us. That's why we have repeatedly proposed demilitarization or at least reduction of troops in big urban centres and rural areas.

- Asked whether Pakistan expected the overt or covert diplomacy to lead to progress in the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process, the Spokesperson said:

Peace process with India is being pursued through various channels. There has been interaction between the leadership of the two countries. We have the Composite Dialogue Process; we have the back channel diplomacy.

- Asked about the status of the Indian proposal to set up visa camp offices as an interim measure before the establishment of Karachi and Bombay Consulates, the Spokesperson said:

We have an agreement on establishing the Consulates-General in Mumbai and Karachi. Unfortunately, there had been no progress on the opening up of Pakistan's Consulate-General in Mumbai. The process of finding a property had to be started from scratch as the deal finalised earlier has been revoked by the landlord despite the court decision in his favour, on the grounds of security problems.

- Asked about the current status of Pak-UK extradition treaty, the Spokesperson said:

It is more or less final; we'll decide the time when to sign.

- Asked whether Gwadar Port was being handed over to the Sultanate of Oman as per media reports to that effect, the Spokesperson said:

Gwadar is part of the territory of Pakistan and it will stay that way. Of course, we welcome foreign investment in various sectors. That is a normal thing and we welcome the Omani investment in Pakistan as well.