Pakistan Trade Minister for SAARC meet

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 19. In a signal that Pakistan is willing to work simultaneously with India in other areas while exploring a solution to the contentious Kashmir problem, the Commerce Minister, Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, is expected to travel to New Delhi in the next few days to participate in the SAARC Trade Ministers meeting on August 23.

Since the Agra summit, the military government has been at pains to emphasise that while it shall continue to focus on resolving the Kashmir dispute, it has no objection in initiating a simultaneous process for resolution of differences in other areas.

Islamabad views the coming SAARC Trade Ministers Conference as an opportunity to demonstrate its earnestness on its approach to other issues. The military government is fully consciousness of the wrong signals it sent to New Delhi when it decided in the last minute to drop the Commerce Minister from Gen. Musharraf's delegation to the Agra summit.

``At that time we consciously decided to keep away the Commerce Minister as we did not want the focus of the summit to be shifted away from the Kashmir issue. Now that the purpose has been achieved at Agra, we believe the time has come for New Delhi and Islamabad to look at other areas where we could cooperate even as we continue our efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue,'' a senior official said.

The SAARC meeting is aimed at formulating a joint strategy for the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation in November this year.

Pakistan fells there are issues such as textiles, agriculture and anti-dumping measures on which SAARC countries have common concerns. A joint strategy on these issues could go a long way in strengthening the case of the developing countries at the Doha WTO ministerial meeting.

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Section  : International
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