Magic of the Maldives: Hopeful Khar says ties with India to improve

Foreign minister says Kashmir has been recognised as a dispute.

ISLAMABAD: Raising hopes that ties with India may improve further in the near future, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said, “We have been able to reduce the trust deficit.”

She made the remarks at a briefing in connection with the recent South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in the Maldives. At the summit, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in the island of Addu.

The foreign minister said, “The Thimpu spirit has been converted into Addu hope.” The Bhutanese capital Thimpu was the site of last year’s Saarc summit, where the two heads of government also met.

“We have invested too much in seeking out hostility towards each other and too little in seeking out peace with each other. We want to move forward,” Khar said.  Responding to a question regarding Singh’s recent statement that he would only visit Islamabad if certain conditions are met, Khar said the Indian prime minister has to give such statements for the consumption of his public.

She said that both leaders, in their one-on-one meeting that lasted 30-35 minutes, reaffirmed their commitment to the pursuit of peace and discussed all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, in a result-oriented manner. “Kashmir has been recognised as a dispute,” she added.

Khar was also optimistic about ties with the US, saying, “We had a rough patch in our relations in the last few months but we are now pursuing good and friendly relations.” While giving details about the meeting between Premier Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the foreign minister said that the media had ‘misreported’ the event saying that the interaction was “positive and frank with an honest discussion.”

Commenting on the summit, she said that Saarc countries had agreed for rapid response to natural disaster to meet any calamity with unity while Pakistan had floated the idea of setting up a Saarc regional bank.

Khar also said, “We are actively trying to get gas from wherever possible and the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and the trans-Afghanistan pipeline are included.”

(Read: SAARC’s 20-point agenda)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th,  2011.