Giving direction to Indo-Pak bilateral ties a priority: Khar

From Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Jul 22 (PTI) 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 the parleys with India would be to set a future
direction for the bilateral relationship.
Khar said it is a "positive step" that India is
serious in 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 state-run PTV.
It was the success of Pakistan to bring India back to
the negotiating table, and the priority for the upcoming talks
would be to set a future direction for bilateral relationship,
she added.
During her talks with External Affairs Minister S M
Krishna, the two sides will take stock of progress made at
secretary-level talks, said Khar, who will travel to India on
July 26 and hold talks with Krishna the following day.
She said Pakistan is pro-actively engaging with
neighbouring countries, particularly Afghanistan and India, to
achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region.
Asked about the arrest of Kashmiri separatist leader
Ghulam Nabi Fai in the US on charges of working for Pakistani
intelligence agencies, Khar said Fai is a US citizen and "he
will be able to resolve his present problem within the
available system". Khar, 34, became Pakistan's youngest and first woman
Foreign Minister on Tuesday when she was elevated to the
status of a full-fledged cabinet minister. She was earlier the
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
She said peace and stability in Afghanistan is
critical for Pakistan and the destinies of the two countries
are inter-linked.
Pakistan desires that Afghanistan should be peaceful
and stable, she added.
"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,"
Khar said.
Afghanistan should be a sovereign country and due
consideration should be given to what the Afghan jirgas,
government and parliament say, she said.
"Many countries have the view that any foreign
presence in the region will create problems in the long run,"
she remarked.
Asked about her upcoming meeting with 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 to bring clarity on issues
between the US and Pakistan.
Her job, she said, is to bring more clarity on issues
and look at convergences with other countries.
"Our relationship with the US has suffered because of
lack of clarity on issues... We should be more pro-active in
the engagement with the US and try to minimise grey areas, so
that there are no misperceptions," she said.
The Pakistan-US relationship is based on convergence
of interests. "Pakistan is a very important country in the
region. Why we should be apologetic?" she added.