Jaswant, Sattar shake hands, but no formal talks

Armed Nepalese securitymen keeping vigil at the international convention centre, venue of the 11th Saarc summit starting January 4, in Kathmandu on Tuesday

Kathmandu, Jan 2: Despite the growing chill in Indo-Pak relations, external affairs minister Jaswant Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Abdul Sattar shook hands and exchanged pleasantries but formal talks between the two have been virtually ruled out with India asserting that Pakistan’s continuing support to terrorist activities against it does not lead to a conducive atmosphere for such an exercise.

“Primarily he (Mr Singh) is here to participate in the Saarc Council of Ministers meeting. I have nothing to add to what he had said in Delhi on Tuesday (that there is no confirmation of such a meeting),” external affairs ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao told newspersons here. Mr Singh, who arrived here little late by a special aircraft, drove straight to the ministerial meeting where informal discussions were held for 20 minutes among the ministers of seven countries “as per Saarc tradition”. Mr Singh and Mr Sattar posed for photographs smiling.

In his opening statement, Nepalese finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat, who is leading the Nepalese delegation, said, “We are meeting in Kathmandu at a special juncture in the history of human civilization.
“New challenges have emerged for us in a globalising world. Let us rise to the occasion and reaffirm our determination to take forward movement in a collective way to keep pace with the rest of the world.”

He wanted South Asia (Sapta) negotiations to be taken forward besides finalising South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) quickly for a meaningful regional economic co-operation.

India will push for effective implementation of the UN security council resolution on firmly tackling the menace of terrorism during the proceedings.

The Saarc foreign secretaries have recommended that there should be sweeping changes in the regional convention on suppression of terrorism signed by the member states in 1987.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have yet to enact national legislations as mandated by the convention. The foreign secretaries have suggested that legal experts from the regional grouping meet in Colombo soon to discuss steps to update the convention.

The foreign ministers, who will discuss a host of issues including poverty alleviation, regional economic co-operation besides focussing on steps to tackle terrorism, drug trafficking and woman and child welfare, will submit a draft report for consideration at the summit.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is slated to arrive here on Thursday afternoon. He will call on King Gyanendra and have bilateral interaction with other Saarc leaders during his stay here.

Indian officials maintain that there is no likelihood of a bilateral meeting between Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf unless Pakistan creates a conducive atmosphere by taking tangible steps against the terrorist outfits behind December 13 attack on Parliament.

— PTI