KOLKATA: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Wednesday hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to his country during the next SAARC meet would go beyond SAARC issues.
“The next summit will be in Pakistan and we hope that it will be a huge success because all SAARC leaders will be there. We have already started preparing for that summit and we hope that Mr Modi’s visit to Pakistan will add more to it beyond the SAARC issues,” Basit said. The High Commissioner was speaking at an interactive session with the MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said the Indian foreign secretary’s visit to Pakistan was very positive as the two countries’ leaders were able to interact after a certain gap.
“We at Pakistan think this visit will lead to some tangible results in resuming the dialogue process and sooner the better I will say,” Basit said. He said both countries should talk and India should feel comfortable in taking forward the dialogue process. “If India feels it is not yet the right time to talk, we can wait...but we will like to see this engagement to resume as quickly as possible. We will also like to feel comfortable to talk to Pakistan,” Basit said.
“We are also not in a hurry in that sense. But, we have to know we are two important countries in this region and by not talking they are not doing any service to our coming generations. Perhaps, we had failed in bringing our two countries together, but we should not let our future generations to fail on this behalf,” he said. The High Commissioner, however, felt that “it would have been far better” if India after the Mumbai attack would agree to Pakistan’s proposal for a joint investigation”.
“We had proposed a joint investigation immediately after the horrific incident. But things have now changed. I do not want to go into history as to what happened. We are very serious and the prosecution is earnest. So let’s hope things will come to a logical conclusion,” he said. “As I say terrorism is a huge problem for us. You may have a 26/11, but we face these tragedies almost everyday in Pakistan. “Terrorism is our common problem, our common issue. So rather than blaming and counter-blaming as well as accusing, we should cooperate and I think its time has come,” Basit said.
Talking about the release of top separatist leader Masarat Alam, Basit said, “I will not like to comment on that because I think in your own media there are divergent views on this. And I think from what I get from the media again that the legal position both in J&K and New Delhi is such that he could be kept behind bars.” On inviting Syed Ali Shah Geelani for the Pakistan Day on March 23, Basit claimed that it had almost been a custom to invite Indian friends as well as those in Kashmir on the occasion and urged not to “make an issue out of a non-issue”.
“March 23rd is our national day. We have been inviting all our Indian friends and Kashmiri friends as well to that reception. There is nothing new about it... It’s not something unprecedented.” “Let’s focus on substantive issues, how we can resolve our problems rather than making an issue which has been a non-issue in the past,” he said. Basit also met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday. Basit, who is here on a three-day visit, said he invited her to visit Pakistan.
He said certain proposals were offered. However, Pakistan High Commissioner did not give details of the proposals. After the 30-minute meeting, Basit said “it was a dream come true”. Pakistani diplomat earlier indicated that Islamabad was supporting provincial cooperation across the border. “Apart from bilateral ties, there could be trade and cultural cooperation between say Sind or (West) Punjab and West Bengal”, he added.
Basit said once-proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) natural gas pipeline project is not dead as dodo. “This could be revived if Iran could come to an agreement on nuclear issue with six global powers,” Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit told Business Line here at MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday. Iran is in discussion with the US, China, France, Germany and UK on its enriched uranium stockpile and other related issues. Pakistan’s envoy indicated that international sanctions on Iran were working against the project. The trilateral 2,700 km project could not take off after prolonged negotiations since 1995.
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