RADIO PAKISTAN
HOME BROADCASTS
21-07-1998
07/0800 HOURS OF 21-7-1998
TALBOTT: The US Deputy Secretary of State Mr. Strobe Talbott is due to arrive in Islamabad Tuesday for talks with Pakistani officials on a whole range of issues of peace and security and nuclear stabilization in the region. The Kashmir issue will figure prominently.
Mr. Talbott will lead the American delegation at formal talks while Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad will head the Pakistan delegation.
The American officials during their visit are also expected to meet the Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan.
ZAKI: Chairman Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Senator Akram Zaki says the nuclear tests carried out by Pakistan has bolstered the spirits of the smaller SAARC states who are of the opinion that these tests have now created a balance of power in the region.
He was addressing a news conference in Karachi after visiting Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka as a special envoy of the Prime Minister during which he delivered letters to the head of states of these countries.
He said that nuclear detonation by Pakistan has helped in subsiding the fear which these countries faced from the hegemonic Indian designs.
Mr. Akram Zaki said that in his meetings with the Head of States, leaders of opposition and intellectuals, the view point of Pakistan on various regional issues, the nuclear tests, CTBT and Kashmir was conveyed. He said our view point was well understood and very well appreciated during these meetings.
Mr. Zaki said the countries he visited were told that Pakistan want to promote the objectives of SAARC including the trade.
21/2200 HOURS OF 20-7-1998
DEFENCE COMMITTEE: Pakistan says it cannot ignore India's growing nuclear capabilities and the Kashmir issue and the major powers will have to take into account Pakistan's fundamental concerns as any coercive measures will be counter-productive.
These views were expressed at a meting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet in Islamabad Monday which reviewed security and strategic view of the situation in the country. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif presided.
It expressed satisfaction that nuclear deterrence has been established following Pakistan's successful nuclear tests. The armed forces are fully prepared to meet any challenge to Pakistan's security.
The Committee felt that the Kashmir dispute continues to play a central role in any security calculation for Pakistan. While pursuing a final settlement of Kashmir through bilateral talks with India, Pakistan remains convinced that effective involvement of major powers and the United Nations was essential for progress towards a just and final settlement of the Kashmir issue.
It expressed concern on India's massive acquisition of arguments which would further aggravate the security situation in the region. Pakistan cannot ignore India's growing nuclear and conventional capabilities. The Committee therefore, underscored the need for Pakistan to safeguard its supreme national an security interests.
The Defence Committee was of the opinion that major powers must recognise that Pakistan was obliged to establish deterrence in the interest of restoring strategic balance and, therefore, peace and security in South Asia. Accordingly any coercive measures by the international community would not only be unjustified but counter-productive.
It said Pakistan is opposed to any arms race, nuclear or conventional, in south Asia. Pakistan emphasises the imperative of socio-economic development in our region and seeks positive contribution of the international community towards the promotion of this objective.
The Defence Committee expressed confidence that present economic difficulties will prove to be temporary as the government is determined to take all measures to overcome them and achieve self-reliance.
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