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Pak. move on conflict resolution fails: Sinha

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR FEB. 22. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, today said that Pakistan's efforts to incorporate conflict resolution into the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) had received little support. Pakistan had raised the issue of intra-NAM conflict resolution at one of the four sessions involving the Foreign Ministers, but it remained in a minority of one.

``We'll end up doing nothing but this,'' Mr. Sinha said when asked about a proposal floated by the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, on the subject.

Mr. Sinha also revealed that there would be a separate NAM Ministerial meeting on the Palestinian issue. This was a clear indication that NAM countries had not forgotten the Palestine issue.

"We should forget about the `fixation' with Pakistan" when asked whether there would be talks between the Indian and Pakistani leaderships.

Asked what India's response would be to a Pakistani proposal on fresh dates for a possible SAARC summit, Mr. Sinha said that it was clear that a fresh proposal had to come given the fact that the summit meeting had been postponed.

``When they (Pakistan) send us a proposal, we will consider it,'' he said. India had made progress on the SAARC economic agenda in relation to the SAARC summit.

On Iraq, senior Indian officials said a consensus draft statement that had been agreed upon was a considerable success given the fact that both Kuwait and Iraq were parties to the draft.

The draft statement said: "We, the Heads of Government of the Non-Aligned Movement, meeting in Kuala Lumpur from February 24-25, 2003, considered with grave concern the precarious and rapidly deteriorating situation arising from the looming threat of war against Iraq.''

``We are fully cognisant of the concerns expressed by millions in our countries, as well as in other parts of the world, who reject war and believe, like we do, that war against Iraq will be a destabilizing factor for the whole region, and that it would have far-reaching political, economic and humanitarian consequences for all countries of the world, particularly the States in the region. ``We reiterate our commitment to the fundamental principles of the non-use of force and respect for their sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and security of all member States of the United Nations.

``We reaffirm our commitment to exert our efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the current situation. We welcome and support all other efforts to avert a war against Iraq and call for the persistent continuation of such efforts based on multilateral as opposed to unilateral actions, and reaffirm the central role of the United Nations and Security Council in maintaining international peace and security,'' it said, adding that Iraq must actively comply with Resolution 1441.

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