Pak-Indian ties
July 22, 2011
Days ahead of her visit to New Delhi for crucial talks with her Indian counterpart, Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said her priority in talks with India would be to set a future direction for the bilateral relationship.
Khar said it is a "positive step" that India is serious about the talks and is moving to institutionalise the process of negotiations with Pakistan. There was forward movement in recent talks between the two countries, she said. The Pakistani position for the upcoming talks is that it wants to "look at the entire picture and at the root causes of problems", Khar said in an interview with the state-owned channel, Pakistan Television (PTV).
Pakistan to engage with neighbours
The foreign minister will travel to India on July 26 and hold talks with Krishna the following day. According to Khar, both sides will take stock of the progress made at the talks between the foreign secretaries of both countries. She said Pakistan is pro-actively engaging with neighbouring countries, particularly Afghanistan and India, to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region.
Talks between India and Pakistan were broken off in 2008 after India blamed Pakistan-based militants for attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. Efforts to re-establish dialogue began earlier this year.
Khar said it is critical for Pakistan that there is peace and stability in Afghanistan, as the destinies of the two countries are inter-linked. "The only role of Pakistan as a neighbour is to help stabilise Afghanistan...We insist that the reconciliation process in Afghanistan must be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned."
More clarity between US and Pakistan
Pakistan’s new foreign minister will meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of an ASEAN conference this week. Khar said Pakistan is "reviewing its terms of engagement with the United States." She stressed the need for clarity on issues between the US and Pakistan, saying that the Pak-US relationship has “suffered because of a lack of clarity.”
Khar, 34, became Pakistan's youngest and first woman Foreign Minister on Tuesday.
Author: Manasi Gopalakrishnan (PTI, Reuters)
Editor: Sarah Berning