News
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
SAARC committee will decide US request for observer status
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation’s standing committee of foreign secretaries will meet in the next few days to discuss criteria for granting observer status in the organisation, after the United States expressed an interest in becoming an observer in the regional grouping, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the SAARC secretariat had yet to provide Pakistan with any information about the US request for observer status. She said after China and Japan had applied for observer status, India had asked for criteria for awarding observer status to other states, and this would be discussed in the standing committee meeting. She said questions of Iran’s inclusion in SAARC at this stage were hypothetical. Aslam said Pakistan was optimistic that there would be forward movement in the dialogue process to resolve the Kashmir issue. She said movement towards a resolution would ease the arms race. However, Pakistan’s missile tests are part of its strategy to maintain a minimum deterrence and will continue, she added.
Regarding a proposal made by Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq that China should be involved in the settlement of the Kashmir dispute, Aslam said China was the most influential country in the region and so might be able to push the dialogue process.
Aslam said Pakistan was looking for a new site for its consulate in Mumbai after the owners of a plot Pakistan had bought for the mission refused to hand over the land because they felt it would be a security concern.
She said the Afghan commander in Spin Boldak who is suspected of killing 15 Pakistanis and trying to make them look like Taliban had been suspended and placed under house arrest. The Afghans have started two separate inquiries into the incident.
Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk