Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The fourth round of Expert level talks on Nuclear Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) will take place in Islamabad on 25 th and 26 th April 2006. These will be followed by third round of talks on Conventional CBMs on 27 th April 2006. Additional Secretary (UN&EC) Tariq Osman Hyder will lead our delegations in both rounds of talks. Our delegations will comprise of officials from the Ministry, SPD, GHQ, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

The Indian delegation for the Nuclear CBM talks will be led by their Additional Secretary (IO), Mr. K.C. Singh, Ministry of External Affairs and Joint Secretary MEA Mr. Dilip Sinha, for the Conventional CBMs. Indian delegation will include representatives of their Ministry of External Affairs, Indian High Commission, Defense Forces, and other officials.

The third round of Nuclear CBMs talks was held on 8 August 2005. During the third round of Nuclear CBMs talks, the two sides finalized the Agreement on Pre-Notification of Flight Testing of Ballistic Missiles, which was signed on 3 October 2005 by the two Foreign Secretaries. The two sides also agreed to operationalize the Foreign Secretaries hotline link.

The mandate for the forthcoming round of Nuclear and Conventional CBMs talks has been laid down in the Joint Statement of 18 January 2006 issued in New Delhi on the occasion of Foreign Secretaries talks to commence the third round of Composite Dialogue Process. The Pakistan side's proposal for a broad mandate for the nuclear and Conventional CBMs talks was incorporated in the Joint Statement of the Foreign Secretaries which asks the experts groups on Nuclear and Conventional CBMs to “continue consultations on security concepts and nuclear doctrines to develop measures for confidence building in the nuclear and conventional fields aimed at avoidence of conflict”. The Pakistan side will hand over the draft agreement on “Prevention of incidents at sea in order to ensure safety of navigation by naval vessels”, pursuant to the Lahore MoU, and will also elaborate on proposals to reduce threat on the LoC.

Technical level discussion, focused on operational and logistic details of Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, Rawalakot-Poonch bus service and meeting points on the LoC, will be held in New Delhi on 2 – 3 of May. Pakistan side will be led by DG (SA). His Indian counterpart Joint Secretary (IPA) will lead the Indian Delegation.

The first round of strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the United States will take place in Washington on 26 and 27 of April.

We have been discussing the Siachin dispute and we are hopeful of forward movement in the meeting of the Secretaries concerned.

- Asked, about the reported offer of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for mediation in Pakistan-India dialogue process on Kashmir dispute, the spokesperson said:

There are no details. From time to time many countries that remain concerned at the possibility of tension, because of the Kashmir dispute, have been offering their good offices. They have been encouraging the parties to make progress for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. This is one more offer of this nature.

- when asked the details of the telephonic conversation between President General Pervez Musharraf and his Iranian counterpart and whether the nuclear issue was also discussed, the spokesperson said:

The telephone call was basically in the context of the gas pipeline. The two Petroleum Ministers had also met and it was an occasion for exchanging views by the two leaders.

- When her attention was drawn to Pak-India Agreement on Accidental News on the use of nuclear weapons, the spokesperson said:

We have been discussing a number of confidence building measures. It is in the interest of both countries to assure that there is no accident involving nuclear weapons. We already have a number of CBMs in place in this regard and discussions are continuing.

- When asked about the exact number of Pakistanis in Guantanamo-Bay, the spokesperson said:

We have been told that at the moment, there are thirteen Pakistanis: But this list is not static. Originally, there were 52 Pakistanis. Pakistani officials went there and interviewed the detainees to establish their nationality. Consequently, most of them were sent back to Pakistan. Subsequently, perhaps some more people were arrested in Afghanistan and transferred to the bay.

- When asked about the logic of inclusion of NATO in the Tripartite Commission, the spokesperson said:

The Tripartite Commission essentially is for coordination of activities and operations along the international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. ISAF and lately NATO has taken over additional responsibilities in Afghanistan and some more troops from NATO member states i.e. Netherlands and United Kingdom are expected to join. They would be involved in the activities on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Participation in Tripartite Commission meetings would help promote coordination among all concerned.

- Asked, whether she foresaw high level exchanges between Pakistan and Iran in near future and whether any date was fixed for Trilateral Ministerial meeting on pipeline, the spokesperson said:

At the moment we are not expecting any high-level visit from Iran. We still do not have the dates for the Ministerial meeting. There will be more technical meetings before that.

- When her attention was drawn to the issue of Pakistani/Indian prisoners in the jails of the two countries, the spokesperson said:

We have seen the media reports about the Pakistani prisoners. We are in touch with the Indian government for consular access and subsequent release of our nationals. The total number of Pakistani prisoners is 535, of which 467 are civilians and 59 fishermen. The national status of 131 civilians has already been confirmed and 147 are awaiting consular access. The total Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails are 614, which 109 are civilians and 505 fishermen. National status of 300 of them has already been confirmed and consular access is awaited for 192.

- When her comments were sought on prevailing political crisis in Nepal, the spokesperson said:

While we do not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, we are concerned about 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. Pakistan remains committed to Nepal's sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.

- When asked about the reports of likely visit of Indian leadership to Pakistan during ensuing summer, the spokesperson said:

Well, we have seen the media reports, June/July are the months that have been mentioned for the Indian Prime Minister's visit. He had also talked about the possibility of his visit to Pakistan but we do not have any dates as yet. There is an outstanding invitation and the Indian Prime Minister recently said that he had accepted the invitation and he would be undertaking the visit.

The NATO and American contingents who were here for relief work have left Pakistan. We may still have a contingent of French personnel who stayed back at our request. Their stay here will be till the end of April. I have to check from our ERRA authorities, if we are seeking an extension in their stay or whether they are winding up their mission.

- When her attention was drawn to the miserable conditions and exploitation of Pakistani labour force in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson said:

We have to understand the nature of our labour force in these countries. The Gulf countries' requirement has undergone a change. Now they need more technical people. The construction boom is over. They are now looking for the people in other areas. The problem is that many innocent people, not only from Pakistan but from other countries as well, are exploited by human traffickers. This is an issue of concern for us. Our government is negotiating with a number of countries, we have concluded some agreements. The government to government arrangements would ensure protection of our expatriates and consequently they would not be exploited by unscrupulous employers abroad.

- When her attention was drawn to a question about mishandling of Pakistani workers in Arab States, particularly Saudi Arabia where an increased number of Pakistani women were reportedly being raped, the spokesperson said:

It is an issue of concern to us and we have been talking to the governments. About the specific issue, we are ascertaining the details.

- When her comments were sought on the introduction of new laws to protect the rights of labour force in Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson said:

Saudi Arabia promulgated a new law which is a positive development. Our concern, however, still remains that people who travel with the connivance of fake travel agencies, are not covered by Saudi law. Their employers do not declare them and they are very much prone to exploitation. That is why we have now a major emphasis on cracking down on these illegal mafias. These illegal job seekers face great difficulties and some times even lose their life as well, while trying to cross the borders illegally.

- Asked about the expectations of Pakistan–India nuclear CBMs, the spokesperson said:

We approach the talks in a constructive manner with a positive frame of mind. We have put a number of proposals on the table. We intend to bring forward some more ideas and we had some good discussions.

- Asked how much of the total pledged money has been utilized by the earthquake affectees, the spokesperson said:

As I have stated repeatedly that most of the pledges were not bilateral grants to Pakistan. The major part of the commitments was in soft loans and we have concluded agreements for about 70% of them against specific projects. The grants were to be used by the donors through their government agencies or through their own NGOs, and through UN agencies. I am not in a position to give the breakdown of the money that has been spent. … probably not much.

- When her comments were sought on a recent media report questioning a reported UN enquiry report on Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Kazi, the spokesperson said:

There were some media reports. But you might have seen the Secretary General's comments as well that the Ashraf Jehangir Kazi has done nothing wrong. However, the UN is investigating and we have also asked our Mission to keep in touch and also find out the latest on the subject.

- Asked, about the expected visit of Chinese Energy Minister to Pakistan, the spokesperson said:

During the President's visit to China in February 2006, Mr. Hu met President Pervez Musharraf alongwith a delegation of All China Federation of Industry and Commerce and assured the President of their cooperation in promoting economy, energy as well as earthquake reconstruction. The main purpose of the Chinese Minister's visit is to focus on matters relating to the earthquake reconstruction and to attend an energy forum. Earthquake Reconstruction Consortium meeting will also be held on 24-25 May 2006.

RECORD OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON ON 24 APRIL 2006

Opening Statements