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Talks with Pakistan not imminent: Fernandes

AFP, New Delhi
Talks between India and Pakistan are still far off as the two countries concentrate on confidencebuilding measures, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes was quoted as saying yesterday.
"When we reach the time for talks (they) will be held, but it (the time) is not very close," Fernandes told a Coast Guard ceremony in the southern city of Madras, as quoted by the Press Trust of India.
The news agency said Fernandes stressed India was concentrating on confidencebuilding measures with Pakistan.
He said Pakistan has taken some action against Islamic rebels fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, a condition long put forward by India.
"Pakistan has taken some decisions and asked some terrorist leaders and groups not to venture into certain areas. To an extent it should be welcomed," Fernandes said.
Pakistan has banned a prominent Islamic extremist, Masood Azhar, from entering its zone of Kashmir. On Wednesday, Pakistani police said they had charged two
members of the largest Kashmir rebel group, Hizbul Mujahedin, for carrying guns.
However, Pakistan has denied a series of Indian media reports that it has banned Hizbul Mujahedin.
Meanwhile, PTI from Islamabad adds: Pakistan has said that it would take counter measures if India acquired sophisticated weapons, including airborne radar systems, and proposed a six-point structured dialogue between the two countries to address the security and political issues.
As the US confirmed that it has endorsed the sale of Israeli airborne radars to India, Pakistan foreign secretary Riaz A Khokar in his address to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Vienna on Thursday said the transfer of such weapons system would upset conventional military balance in South Asia.
Pakistan would view this with "utmost seriousness" and would be obliged to take counter measures, official media here on Friday quoted Khokar as saying.
"Nuclear realities in our region impose certain obligations and responsibilities on our two coun-
tries. It is, therefore, important for both India and Pakistan to engage in serious discussions for nuclear and strategic stability in our region," the foreign secretary said.
Suggesting a "new architecture of security" in South Asia, he proposed a six-point agenda for a structured dialogue on security issues in the region that included "fores-wearance" of use or the threat of use of force in settling disputes and respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states of the region.
The other points Khokar suggested include a permanent mechanism for bilateral dialogue and consultations for dispute settlement, initiation of result-oriented talks for devising mutually acceptable confidence building measures in the nuclear field, stabilisation of conventional forces at levels consonant with the legitimate security needs of all states of the region and renewed commitment to jointly combat poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease.
Observing that the fresh Indo-Pak peace initiatives brought an air of anticipation in the region, he
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hoped that a resumed dialogue between the two would not only address the Kashmir issue but also enable the two countries to discuss strategic restraint and security building measures.
On the nuclear issues, Khokar said Pakistan supported confidence building measures outlined in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at Lahore in February 1999.
Stating that Pakistan was ready to discuss several measures to reach an agreement with New Delhi, he said both Pakistan and India were observing a moratorium on nuclear testing and "this could be formalised".
An agreement on nondeployment of nuclear weapons based on agreed definitions would also be a major factor for stability, he said adding a formal agreement to notify each other of ballistic missile tests, would constitute an important confidence building measure.
Stating that preserving the conventional balance in South Asia was a major responsibility of states that were large exporters of conventional weapons, the Pakistan foreign secretary said "already there were forecasts of conventional weapons transfers in our neighbourhood which could seriously erode the conventional balance and generate instability and insecurity".
Referring to the Kashmir issue, Khokar said, "In a nuclear environment the continuation of this dispute rightly worried everyone".
Terming Pakistan's resolve to fight terrorism as "unflinching", the foreign secretary at the same time said Islamabad would oppose with
equal determination any attempt that sought to belittle the principle of self-determination.
"The struggle for selfdetermination was neither unlawful nor terrorism," he said.
On the security concerns regarding Pakistan's nuclear programme, he said, "Pakistan's commitment to non-proliferation was a result of its own conviction and manifest in its actions." Our nuclear assets were under a strict physical protection regime and elaborate custodial controls."
A rigorous security and monitoring system ruled out any danger of transfers of sensitive materials, equipment, technology or information. "With a blanket prohibition against any exports whatsoever, our export controls go even beyond the standards of supplier control regimes," he said.