SOURCE: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-1-2005_pg7_6
27 Jan. 2005
* Pakistan and Belgium sign MOU to improve relations
BRUSSELS: Pakistan is not seeking to start an arms race with India, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday, but added there could be no full peace between the states without a solution on Kashmir.
“Pakistan does not want to enter into an arms race with any country, including India, whether nuclear or conventional,” Aziz told the Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations.
“We will continue to pursue a policy of restraint and responsibility in nuclear matters,” he added.
Aziz said India’s conventional forces “vastly outnumbered” those of Pakistan and that the gap was getting larger, much to the concern of Islamabad. “This is causing a serious imbalance in the region,” he said. Aziz said there was no chance of Pakistan and India reconciling their difference unless the Kashmir dispute was resolved in a way acceptable to the people living there.
“There can be no peace unless this dispute is resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people,” he said. Aziz said Pakistan was still waiting for India to respond to a number of proposals it had made to try to resolve the dispute. Aziz on Wednesday met European Parliament’s All Parties Group on Kashmir and a delegation representing Kashmiris separately.
Aziz said India was building the Baglihar Dam in violation of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty and reiterated that Pakistan would not give up its stance on Kashmir and the Baglihar dam. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Belgium on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further their economic and political ties.
The MoU was signed by Aziz and his Belgian counterpart Guy Verhofstadt following a luncheon meeting between the two leaders that focused on wide-ranging regional and global issues.
The MoU on bilateral consultations between the foreign ministries of Pakistan and Belgium calls for increased interaction between the two countries. Verhofstadt trumpeted Pakistan’s role in international affairs and its growing economic potential. He said Pakistan was the 13th largest trading partner of the EU. He said the MOU would assist the Belgian companies in investing in Pakistan.
Aziz said the two countries had common views on many issues and were keen to improve their commercial, economic, trade and political relations. Aziz said Pakistan wanted access to European markets and hoped that Belgium would help achieve its gaol. Speaking at a breakfast meeting, Aziz said on Wednesday that Pakistan was an attractive location for investment and the government was offering a level playing field to foreign entrepreneurs.
“Pakistan’s economy is more vibrant than it was five years ago and the government has initiated several measures to attract foreign investment,” Aziz said. Aziz late on Tuesday called upon the overseas Pakistanis to play a positive role in enhancing Pakistan’s image abroad.
Aziz will visit Davos, Switzerland, on Friday to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. He will meet several heads of state as well as opinion makers from all over the world.” agencies.