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By Amit Baruah
Aziz Ahmed Khan
In an exclusive interview to The Hindu, the new Pakistani High Commissioner to New Delhi, Aziz Ahmed Khan, said that Islamabad was not averse to contact at the summit level on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York next month. Asked if Islamabad was ready for a meeting between the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, in New York, he said: "We are not shy of a meeting. Of course, there should be a mutual desire to have that meeting...'' On the statements made by New Delhi that Islamabad had not extended its cooperation to India as it had to the United States in fighting terror, Mr. Khan said: "Let the Indian delegation sit across the table and talk about these things.'' He added: ``We'll find out what cooperation they [the Indian side] need and what cooperation Pakistan can or has extended. These subjects cannot be discussed through the media...'' Asked about the Government of Pakistan having allowed leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad to operate freely despite its promises to act against all terrorist groups, Mr. Khan claimed that Islamabad had taken the "action'' that had been promised. ``You just can't put people behind bars just for the sake of putting them behind bars. If there is some evidence against somebody, then action can be taken...,'' he said. He claimed that Pakistan's record in cooperating with the international community on terrorism was "impeccable''. The High Commissioner made it clear that trade issues between India and Pakistan, too, had to be discussed bilaterally as part of the composite dialogue process that was agreed upon in 1997. As part of this agreement, the subjects of terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir were to be discussed "separately'' by the Foreign Secretaries. So should issues such as trade, Siachen and the Tulbul project. He said: ``A composite dialogue will be a simultaneous dialogue in all areas. Of course, Pakistan is ready and willing to discuss trade issues. It's not that Pakistan does not want trade with India, but then Pakistan also has concerns on this issue...'' Since one round of talks was held in 1998 as part of the composite dialogue process, Mr. Khan saw no reason why it could not be resumed. "The Secretary-level talks can kick off the discussions and as progress is achieved one can see whether and when to raise the level of discussions.'' If talks are held, who would be the interlocutor from the Pakistani side - Gen. Musharraf, or the Pakistani Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali? "The Prime Minister is the head of government.'' But what about Gen. Musharraf's recent comment that he was ready to get involved in the dialogue process if necessary? "That just shows Pakistan's commitment to the peace process...'' Progress in the four months since April 18 when the ice was broken by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's April 18 speech in Srinagar and Mr. Jamali's response to it had been a ``little slow'', Mr. Khan said. But he believed that the pre-December 13, 2001 position could be restored in "one go''. This applied not only to transport links but to the restoration of staff levels at the High Commissions in Delhi and Islamabad. The absence of rail links affected the people of both India and Pakistan. ``We cannot cater to requests for visas here, for the simple reason we do not have the staff... We have offered the restoration of rail links... Four months have passed... All we have done is just to have High Commissioners in place and [resume] the bus service.'' The High Commissioner was candid in pointing to the problems that impede any discussion of the issue of air links at the scheduled technical-level talks in Islamabad on August 27 and 28. ``My saying anything at the moment would be pre-judging the outcome of the meeting... all subjects will be discussed... You know we have certain views about the overflights issue,'' he said, stressing that there was no problem in resuming air links. ``The two issues have become separate. They are not really linked issues. Air links can be restored immediately. As far as overflights are concerned, the two issues were delinked quite some time ago when India offered restoration of overflights.'' Mr. Khan maintained: ``We feel this is an issue which needs to be discussed because it has harmed commercial activities of the two airlines... Again, this is a technical issue, and we might as well leave it to the technical people to discuss...'' How would he place the recent visit of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief, Fazlur Rehman, to India, in the context of bilateral relations? ``Maulana Fazlur Rehman had come on a private visit. Whatever he had to say was in the open. I cannot really add anything to it. I would classify it as a part of the track two dialogue that has been going on,'' said the High Commissioner.
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