Istanbul, Jun 8: India and Pakistan must try to resolve the “core issue” of Kashmir and other outstanding problems to start a “new era” of trust, amity and friendship in the region, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said.
 Addressing the third Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia (CICA) here, Qureshi noted that External Affairs Minister S M Krishna would be visiting Pakistan on July 15. “I look forward to have constructive and result-oriented dialogue with him.”
 “We believe that as the two largest countries in South Asia, Pakistan and India must earnestly endeavour to resolve all outstanding disputes including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir to start a new era of trust, amity and friendship in the region,” Qureshi said.
 He also told the participants at the Summit that the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India held a constructive meeting in Thimphu, Bhutan in April and they agreed to resume the stalled dialogue process at the Foreign Ministers’ level.
 Qureshi also spoke on the issue of terrorism as well as the situation in Afghanistan.
 Pakistan, like other CICA member countries, is deeply concerned on the continued instability in Afghanistan, he said.
 “Terrorism remains the paramount security threat confronting the world today. As a neighbour of Afghanistan, Pakistan has been in the forefront of the fight against terrorism,” he said.
 Pakistan has suffered enormous losses both in terms of human lives and material, which include more than 2500 security personnel and 10,000 civilians. Economic losses exceed USD 40 billion, he said.
 “We are determined to pursue the terrorists to the very end,” he said, adding that there is a need to forge a cooperative approach against the threat of terrorism by the international community.
 Welcoming Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram’s upcoming visit to Pakistan later this month, Qureshi said he would discuss “issues of mutual concern” with Chidambaram.
 The Indian Home Minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan to attend a meeting of SAARC interior ministers on June 26.
QURESHI, SHARMA MEET
ON CICA SIDELINES
 Qureshi, met India’s Minister for Commerce Anand Sharma on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia summit in Istanbul, and discussed the huge untapped trade potential between the two neighbours.
 Qureshi and Sharma also discussed the forthcoming dialogue between Pakistan and India.
 Qureshi said “enhanced engagement” between the two countries was the answer to the problem of terrorism.
 They deliberated on “modalities to bridge the trust deficit that exists between the two countries and the ways to take the dialogue process forward,” said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
 Sharma said he is looking forward to meeting his Pakistani counterpart to discuss issues of bilateral trade and commerce.
 Qureshi appreciated the recent meeting between Pakistani and Indian businessmen in New Delhi.
 Sharma told Qureshi that he would send a delegation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to Pakistan in October to “further cement and explore bilateral economic ties”.
 Qureshi conveyed his best wishes to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Indian counterpart S M Krishna, who is scheduled to visit Islamabad on July 15 for bilateral talks.
 Ahead of this meeting, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will visit Islamabad for talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on June 26.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST