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"India, Pak can not ISLAMABAD, Aug 14: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said India and Pakistan can not progress without finding an amicable solution to .......more Indians
in S Africa DURBAN, Aug 14: A majority of South Africans of Indian origin are of the view that race relations in the country have improved since apartheid was abolished in 1994 and are "most encouraged" by those changes, a survey has revealed. .....more Pak
cautions US against ISLAMABAD, Aug 14: Amid reports that the Bush administration is moving quickly towards lifting of sanctions against India, Pakistan has cautioned the US that any discrimination ......more |
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Israeli troops attack JERUSALEM, Aug 14: Israeli tanks rolled into the heart of Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Jenin early today and destroyed two police stations, a move the Palestinian side said would "open the gates to hell." ........more Gen Tewari
new NEW DELHI, Aug.14: The UN Secretary General has appointed Major General Lalit Mohan Tewari .........more Lankan
minister ventures COLOMBO, Aug 14: A Sri Lankan minister today said he had met local leaders of the LTTE in the........more SAARC
countries BANGALORE, Aug 14: Similar to European economic union, the countries of SAARC are consider.........more |
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"India, Pak can not progress without solution to Kashmir" ISLAMABAD, Aug 14: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said India and Pakistan can not progress without finding an amicable solution to Kashmir issue and cautioned his countrymen that threat to Pakistan’s unity and integrity emanated from extremist elements from within. Addressing a gathering on the occasion of Pakistan’s 54th independence day at a special function here, Musharraf said, "I categorically stated on my return from Agra that we favour further talks on Kashmir dispute and other issues of differences with India. "Without sacrificing our sovereignty and national honour and national dignity, we are willing to go to any length in order to maintain friendly relations with all our neighbours. This is particularly true with regard to India because we are convinced without an amicable solution to the thorny and long standing Kashmir dispute, the two countries can not progress and develop to the desired extent." At the independence day function which was held in the premises of the presidential palace amidst strict security and attended by cabinet ministers, top Government officials, diplomatic core and the media, Musharraf said, he was grateful to the people of Pakistan for endorsing the "recent ventures in foreign policy." "We have brought the Kashmir dispute out of the closet and made it the focus of world attention," he said. Musharraf said despite freezing the defence budget due to economic compulsions, the Pakistan armed forces backed by the nuclear potential provided complete security from external threat. "Unfortunately, however, our threat emanates from within. Our economic malice coupled with intolerance extremist attitude in certain quarters are the termites eating us from within. "All that is required is will and self confidence to face these challenges. We must realise and understand time has come to rededicate ourselves to achieve primary objectives and to attain our rightful place in the world," he said. Musharraf said concerted efforts were necessary to develop peaceful harmonious and orderly society by exhibiting tolerance, understanding of each others views while resolving religious and political differences. "Remember the character and performance of the nation is the sum total of the character and performance of every individual of the nation," he said and appealed to people to forge unity. "Let us not fall a prey to the powers to see us fragmented into sects and ethnic groups." He said he would come out with an announcement on a detailed elections schedule later in the day when he addresses the recently elected local councils. He, however, said his Government would hold elections before the October 2002 deadline set by Pakistan Supreme Court for his military regime to handover power to an elected Government. Musharrafs’ comments today followed his assertion last night that Indian leaders should exercise restraint in their statements on Agra as well as post Agra summit developments. "I am exercising restraint myself and trying to avoid giving provocative statements with the sole purpose of settling disputes with India through peaceful means," he told reporters at Rawalpindi after inaugurating a new train to Karachi. He said Pakistan wanted a peaceful resolution of all issues with India including Jammu and Kashmir. "I have adopted a positive attitude and now the Indian leadership should respond in the same fashion so that our differences on various issues could be narrowed down". He said "I think there should be some decorum and it cannot be achieved unless both the sides exercise restraint. There should not be a violation of rules to improve our relations." "But I want to say with all sincerity that Pakistan wants good relations with India. Pakistan wants to continue holding talks with India to settle the Kashmir issue," he said and reiterated that without the resolution of Kashmir issue, relations between the two countries were not likely to improve. In his speech today, Musharraf also claimed that Pakistan economy was on a road to recovery. "Pakistanis could now look forward to better times without the sword of economic catastrophe hanging on their heads," he said, adding restructuring of economic programme had been praised by the national and international community. (PTI) |
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Indians in S Africa encouraged by changes in race relations DURBAN, Aug 14: A majority of South Africans of Indian origin are of the view that race relations in the country have improved since apartheid was abolished in 1994 and are "most encouraged" by those changes, a survey has revealed. Nearly 62 per cent of Indians said race relations had improved in the country since the changes began in April 1994, said the survey, which was released yesterday. Conducted by the semi-state Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) at the end of last year, the survey concluded that Indians were also "most encouraged" by the changes in race relations. "If population group and gender are examined together, then Indian men seem the most encouraged and white men the least", Director of the HSRC, Meschack Nkosi, said. Nkosi said another survey, being carried out at the moment, would be released to coincide with the world conference on racism in Durban at the end of the month. "While 82 per cent of the respondents reported no experiences whatsoever of discrimination on the basis of their race during the previous six months, 27 per cent of white people had experienced discrimination, significantly more than black South Africans with 17 per cent, Indians with 12 per cent and coloured people with 11 per cent", said Nkosi. (PTI) |
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Pak cautions US against lifting sanctions against India alone ISLAMABAD, Aug 14: Amid reports that the Bush administration is moving quickly towards lifting of sanctions against India, Pakistan has cautioned the US that any discrimination against it on the issue would affect Pak-US ties. Any US move to single India out for lifting of the sanctions would affect the efforts to improve relations between Islamabad and Washington, Pakistan Ambassador to the US Maleeha Lodhi said. Addressing Pakistan-American Congress last weekend in Washington, she said while India faced only one layer of US sanctions, Islamabad has been subjected to five layers of sanctions, Pakistan official APP news agency reported. Pakistan was slapped with sanctions for its nuclear programme and a separate set of curbs after the October 1999 coup. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Sunday said aides of President George Bush will begin talks with members of the Congress on the issue and the movement will come "at a speed visible to the naked eye," after the summer recess ends in September. Lodhi’s comments came ahead of Pakistan Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq’s visit to the US this week during which he is expected to comprehensively review bilateral relations. US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca, during her recent visit to Islamabad, had said sanctions against Pakistan, specially those imposed after the coup, would be removed only after restoration of democracy. Lodhi said Pakistan had always taken a consistent and principled stand that the US should follow a fair and equitable policy on sanctions relief. Islamabad was keen to narrow down differences with Washington on the sanctions issue and was interested in rebuilding its relationship with the US on a realistic basis, she said. Pakistan was also aware of the changed environment and wanted its relationship with the US to reflect cold-war realities, Lodhi added. She said her country had maintained a high level of engagement with the Bush administration in the last six months, including detailed discussions between Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Referring to the Agra summit, she asserted that it was not a failure. "We do not share the pessimistic view of some that the Agra summit had collapsed or failed. The two sides came close to adopting a joint declaration. It is unfortunate that the conclusion of the exercise was aborted. The Agra summit was inconclusive but it did not fail. "In fact the two leaders (Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf) succeeded in covering much common ground in the draft declaration. That will provide a valuable foundation for the two leaders to reach full agreement at their next meeting. We hope to pick up the threads of discussions in the near future," she said. (PTI) |
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Israeli troops attack West Bank town JERUSALEM, Aug 14: Israeli tanks rolled into the heart of Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Jenin early today and destroyed two police stations, a move the Palestinian side said would "open the gates to hell." Israel troops forced their way into the area for the first time since the current uprising began 10 months ago and surrounded the town Governor’s office during the raid, Palestinian sources said. After the nearly three-hour long operation, the biggest Israeli incursion since the Palestinian authority was established in the area after the 1995 Oslo peace agreement, the troops withdrew. They came under Palestinian fire before the withdrawal. The sources said four Palestinian security officers were injured in gun battles while Israeli helicopters flew above the town during the operation. Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erakat called for the UN Security Council to intervene and warned that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was "opening the gates of hell" with the incursion. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will today appeal to the the Security Council for international protection of the Palestinian people, top Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said. Palestinians came out into the streets of Jenin after Israel defence forces withdrew — celebrating, singing and firing bullets into the air. "If the Israeli occupier again tries to penetrate into our cities, village refugee camps, our people will administer a thrashing of a lesson and will make pay very dearly," Hamas official Ismail Hanniyieh said. "What he (Sharon) began in jerusalem two days ago ... Is part of an endgame. The man is determined to end his life by ending the peace process," Erakat said. "This is a declaration of war," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo was reported as saying. Rabbo said Security Council should immediately convene a meeting on the issue. Israel radio quoted Government sources as saying the operation was in response to a string of bombings and suicide attacks that had emanated from Jenin, many of which were carried out by Islamic Jihad. These included Sunday’s suicide bomb explosion in Kiryat Motzkin near northern Israeli town of Haifa, in which some 20 people were injured. Israeli Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh said the move was a signal to Palestinians to stop carrying out attacks, but made it clear that the Government had "no intention of re-conquering the area." The Palestinians have also asked that the security council to discuss the takeover of orient house and other Palestinian authority institutions in East Jerusalem and the neighborhood of Abu Dis on the outskirt of Jerusalem. Today’s operation in Jenin is the latest in a series of recent seizures of Palestinian authority offices by Israeli troops. (PTI) |
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Gen Tewari new UNIFIL commander NEW DELHI, Aug.14: The UN Secretary General has appointed Major General Lalit Mohan Tewari as the force commander of the United Nations interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), it was officially announced today. When Tewari assumes charge shortly, he will be the only Indian force commander in the ongoing UN peacekeeping operations. Commissioned in the Madras Regiment in 1966, he is a highly decorated Army officer and held varied command, instructional and staff positions. His field experiences include counter insurgency operations in Nagaland and Kashmir. The UN Security Council had established UNIFIL in 1978 to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory and to assist the Lebanese Government in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area. Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon in May, 2000 and the boundary demarcated by the UN between the two countries has come to be known as the Blue Line (Line of Withdrawal). Lebanon rejected the Blue Line and claimed that Israel was still in occupation of the Sheban farm area. Since November, 1998, India has contributed an infantry battalion to UNIFIL. In addition to operational responsibilities such as monitoring and reporting of violations of the Blue Line, the Indian contingent has undertaken numerous humanitarian tasks in the area, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement here. India is amongst the longest serving and largest troop contributor to UN’s peacekeeping activities. Indian troops, military observers and civilian police officers have participated in 36 such operations since the inception of the UN. At present, India contributes to nine out of 16 peacekeeping operations, with the deployment of approximately 2,700 personnel.(PTI) |
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Lankan minister ventures into LTTE territory COLOMBO, Aug 14: A Sri Lankan minister today said he had met local leaders of the LTTE in the rebel-controlled northern district of Mannar during a visit to an annual festival of a Catholic church in what is the first direct contact between the Government and the militants in many years. Civil Aviation Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said he got to talk to LTTE functionaries about their wish to give up their demand for a separate State, if Tamils were allowed to live on equal terms with the Sinhalese with honour and dignity. "We were given maximum security by armed LTTE cadres and were received at the church of our lady of Madhu by high-ranking priests. Regional leaders of the LTTE told me they were not seeking Tamil Eelam any more, and only wanted greater powers and autonomy," he told PTI. The last time the two parties to the conflict were in direct contact was in 1995, when their negotiations broke down, leading to the intensification of the civil war. Fernandopulle said he would meet senior leaders of the LTTE on his next visit. He was told by the LTTE men that even their leadership held the same view and was not aiming for Eelam any more. He was requested to convey this to the Government, being the first minister to visit them, he said. Asked if he would apprise President Chandrika Kumaratunga about the feedback on this viewpoint of the LTTE, he said: I’ll tell her about it in the next cabinet meeting in a few days. Fernandopulle said he had wanted to visit the famous Madhu shrine soon after he was given additional charge of Christian religious affairs a few days ago. "There were representatives of the international committee of the Red Cross and three or four priests. There were five or six armed men for my personal security, and there were four motorbikes and two cars with Tamil Eelam number plates going with us," Fernandopulle said. While in the church, he attended mass, which was also conducted in Sinhala. "We were then taken around areas guarded by the LTTE. I was not allowed to come out of the car at one point for security reasons. "I was taken to their cemetery of war heroes and later talked to the local LTTE men in public," the minister said. When he had asked them about the draft constitution that did provide for substantial powers for Tamils, the functionaries told him that even the parties like the Tamil United Liberation Front and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation could not accept. They thought the Government had not done enough for ushering in peace and were not given a chance to put forth their view on constitutional changes, Fernandopulle said. The Peoples Alliance regime had introduced the draft constitution in Parliament last August, but was forced to withdraw the bill in view of vociferous opposition from several sections of society. This is not the first time that the LTTE is indicating that it is prepared to settle for a solution short of a separate State. They had earlier conveyed the same view to an inter-faith group of religious leaders. (PTI) |
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SAARC countries
plan for common BANGALORE, Aug 14: Similar to European economic union, the countries of SAARC are considering a proposal for an eventual South Asian economic and currency union and a common market, a senior SAARC official said today. "A proposal for an eventual South Asian Economic Union is being considered," Secretary General of SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) Secretariat, Nihal Rodrigo said, addressing the Asia Pacific Enterprise summit 2001 here. "This goal projects successive stages leading from SAPTA (South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement) to SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement), through a customs union and a common market onto an eventual economic and currency union," he said. The 11th SAARC summit, expected to be convened this year, is expected to take up the issue, he said. Favouring such a union, Rodrigo exressed the view that SAPTA and SAFTA might not by themselves be adequate. Increased production, more diverse markets, joint ventures, capital flows within and from outside the region, harmonisation of standards, simplification of documentation and regulations and a host of other measures would be essential. According to Rodrigo, efforts in SAARC to surmount regional trade barriers have had mixed results in the past. The agreement for SAPTA which came into force in 1995 has led to tariff reductions or removals on about 5,500 items but many items of active trading had not yet been included. "A fourth round of negotiations, due shortly, is expected to be conducted on a chapter-wise, sectoral and across-the-board basis, rather than the earlier slower product-by-product approach," he said. In addition, Rodrigo said a preliminary draft treaty framework for the establishment of a SAFTA is on the negotiating table. Complexities of negotiating such a free trade area have been identified, many of which needed definite policy decisions at the highest political levels. "The 11th SAARC summit will help clarify these and other issues," he said. According to him, both SAARC and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) are also moving towards economic integration. (PTI) |
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