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Chance encounters at Kathmandu not ruled out
By C. Raja Mohan
KATHMANDU, JAN. 1. The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, will not avoid running into his Pakistani counterpart, Mr. Abdul Sattar, on the margins of a South Asian summit here over the next few days. But India insists that there can be no formal dialogue with Pakistan until Islamabad takes concrete steps to curb cross-border terrorism.
Responding to the continuing speculation on the likelihood of a meeting between the two Foreign Ministers at the summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), senior Indian officials say ``no concrete decision'' has been taken so far.
Pakistani officials here have begun to raise expectations of a meeting not only between the Foreign Ministers but also an engagement between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the President of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, during the SAARC summit.
The Indian side is not ruling out chance encounters between the Indian and Pakistani leaders who would be spending considerable time together during the meetings of the SAARC. ``There will be no absence of civility,'' the foreign office spokeswoman, Ms. Nirumpa Rao, told a press conference here.
But a serious conversation between the two sides, according to India, would depend upon the creation of a conducive climate. Pakistan's effective action against sources of terrorism on its soil, Ms. Rao said, ``is the template and context in which the prospects for an Indo-Pak dialogue must be located''.
The Foreign Ministers of the seven SAARC nations will meet during January 2-3 and the Heads of Government during January 4-6. A meeting between Mr. Singh and Mr. Sattar is not being ruled out if there is more visible action against terrorism in the next few days. But a dialogue between Mr. Vajpayee and Gen. Musharraf remains rather remote at the moment.
The signs of easing tensions between India and Pakistan have already begun to lighten the political mood in the Nepali capital. The apparent drift towards an Indo-Pakistan military confrontation in recent days had cast a shadow over the long-delayed SAARC summit. Meanwhile, the Standing Committee of the SAARC Foreign Secretaries concluded their deliberations today by suggesting that the region must vigorously implement the international norms against terrorism that have emerged since September 11.
Briefing the press here, the Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Mr. Madhuraman Acharya, said senior officials ``endorsed the validity'' of the recent U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373 that demanded strong counter-terrorism measures by all States.
The official focus on terrorism came as part of the discussion on the implementation of the 1987 SAARC convention on combating terrorism. While some members have enacted national legislation to implement the convention, Pakistan and Bangladesh are yet to do so. There was recognition that the latest U.N. resolutions are far more demanding than the 1987 SAARC convention. To look at the implications of the changed international context of terrorism and ways to tighten the 1987 convention, legal advisors to the SAARC Governments would soon meet in Colombo.
The discussion on terrorism today took place in a constructive atmosphere and underscored the ``need to comprehensively address issues relating to terrorism, drug trafficking, organised crime and allied offences''. There was special emphasis on promoting ``closer interaction amongst the police agencies'' of the subcontinent.
The recommendations of the Standing Committee would now be considered at the ministerial level in the next couple of days. Most Foreign Ministers have already arrived in the Nepalese capital and Mr. Jaswant Singh will be here tomorrow. As part of the effort to accelerate the stalled process of regional integration, the senior officials recommended a new date for the realisation of the South Asian Free Trade Area by the end of next year.
Trade ties within the SAARC are at an abysmally low level and progress towards economic integration has been too slow. Nevertheless, the Foreign Secretaries today considered that the ``vision of creating a South Asian Economic Union by 2020'' was ``a desirable goal''.
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