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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Missiles in the mountains
By Mahmoud MouradIt has not been a good week for Pakistan. Suffering heavy casualties in the escalating border skirmishes with its neighbour India, its cricket team also managed to lose decisively to their arch-rivals.
Yet Prime Minister Nawaz Sherif, in an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, remained resolutely positive about the longer-term prospects for relations between the two countries.
"We believe that if we resolve [the Kashmir problem], our two countries will be able to promote peace and security across the region, as well as cooperating to our mutual benefit," said Sherif.
The first talks between India and Pakistan since serious fighting erupted a month ago are scheduled to begin Saturday in New Delhi. The Kashmir region, whose present borders were defined by the Simla Agreement of 1972, has long been essentially disputed territory.
The latest round of artillery duels broke out on 9 May, and on 26 May India began airstrikes against Pakistani positions. New Delhi accuses the Pakistani army of being directly responsible for a number of guerrilla incursions into Indian-controlled territory. Islamabad, for its part, denies it has offered anything more than "moral and political support" to groups which it describes as local militants fighting for the right to political self-determination.
While India insists there is no reason to revise the Simla Agreement, Pakistan has always maintained that the 1949 UN resolution calling for a referendum in Kashmir still stands, and that India should be prepared to hold such a referendum.
Sherif told the Weekly that he believed the Lahore Declaration, which he signed in February with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, could still provide a framework in which all outstanding issues could be resolved. But, he stressed, "genuine peace and security in the region is not possible unless the root cause of the tensions between the two countries -- the Kashmir dispute -- is resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people."
The present fighting between the two neighbours, the worst since the 1971 war, is particularly frightening in the wake of last year's "nuclearisation" of the region, when both India and Pakistan proceeded with full-scale test explosions of nuclear devices.
Speaking to the Weekly, Sherif described Kashmir as a "nuclear flashpoint" and insisted on the urgent need to defuse the situation. However, he was less inclined to commit himself to being the first to sign the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
"Pakistan is committed to joining the CTBT in an atmosphere free from coercion and pressure," said Sherif. But he added, "I would like to underline that the only threats to our security are from India."
India, however, is unwilling to sign the CTBT as long as China remains outside the treaty, thus effectively paralysing the situation.
Turning to the matter of Egyptian-Pakistani relations, Sherif told the Weekly, "We are indeed two pillars of one civilisation: one in the Indus valley and the other in the valley of the Nile. Egypt is my second home."
He admitted that to date economic cooperation has not realised the potential of goodwill that exists between the two countries, but pointed to the Pakistan-Egypt Joint Ministerial Commission meeting that is scheduled for this month as an opportunity to try and push things forward. "The forum should help identify projects that are relevant and mutually rewarding," said Sherif. This, he added, would then allow Memoranda of Understanding to be signed on a number of matters.
"My government is committed to expanding Pakistan-Egypt bilateral relations," said Sherif.
He also reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism, on which the two countries already have a formal agreement, and denied that his country served as a launching pad for Islamist terrorism. "We are ourselves the victims of the history of the last decade in our region," Sherif insisted. "We are not the place where this terrorism germinated."
Sherif praised the work of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in promoting better international understanding of Islamic culture, and said that he would like to see the OIC play a more prominent role in arbitrating disputes between member states and promoting common economic interests. "Its weaknesses are those common to all multi-lateral organisations," he pointed out, adding: "It is up to the various member states to strengthen cooperation within this framework."
In conclusion, Sherif stressed that political cooperation between Egypt and Pakistan needed to be backed up by more contact between the two peoples, whether in the cultural or the economic fields, so as to cement the relationship. "We have an immense potential to complement each others' strengths and resources, so as to build a better future for our peoples," he told the Weekly. "Our history should not be a history of missed opportunities."
