Pakistan Defence News Thread

Just to start a new one. India/China and Pakistan are standard topics so here a new start.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200408240669.html
Pakistan And SA Talk to Patch Up an Old Friendship
Cape Argus (Cape Town)

August 24, 2004
Posted to the web August 24, 2004

Peter Fabricius

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar held talks with South Africa’s director-general of Foreign Affairs Ayanda Ntsaluba which were aimed at mending fences between the two nations. Here he tells the Cape Argus what was discussed.

Pakistan and South Africa are busy mending relations, damaged by Pakistan’s suspension from the Commonwealth and its arrest of two South Africans on suspicion of involvement in international terrorism.

…

‘We look forward to solid relations in all fields’.

The two countries are to launch a joint commission next month which will consider Pakistan’s request to buy arms from SA, and also seek greater co-operation across a wide range of other activities.

SA had restricted arms sales to Pakistan after the 1999 coup by current President Pervez Musharraf which led to Pakistan being suspended from the Commonwealth. But Pakistan was reinstated as a full member after partial democratic reforms by Musharraf.

….

The two sides also agreed to launch a joint commission later this year to boost relations. SA officials said Pakistan’s request to buy arms would be considered there.

Khokhar said in an interview: “Yes, there were some minor strains our relations a few years ago because of our suspension from the Commonwealth but in my judgment they are behind us and we really look forward to very solid relations with SA in all fields, and certainly the economic field and we would like to benefit from the enormous progress and economic development that you have achieved.”

He said Pakistan wanted to enter into a military relationship with SA, because the country was “very advanced in certain areas. We would like to benefit from that and it is for South Africa basically to review its position.”

Khokhar said there was also enormous potential to increase the overall trade between the two countries, now totalling about US $200 million a year. The joint commission would draft “an economic road map for the steady development of our economic relationship”.

…

Khokhar said that apart from SA-Pakistan relations, the “very good discussions” with Ntsaluba had also touched on regional issues, including Pakistan’s territorial dispute over Kashmir with India.

He assured Ntsaluba that the peace talks begun last year were continuing and even though they had only “just scratched the surface”, both sides felt “a clear desire that the problems should be resolved peacefully. War is not an option for either country.”

Khokhar said the foreign ministers of both countries would meet in the first week of September to pursue the peace talks.

On the nuclear stand-off between the two countries, Khokhar said the two sides had agreed “on small confidence-building measures; things like hotlines. But more detailed discussions will take place in the next few weeks. India and Pakistan are neighbours so there is no reaction time, no room for mistakes.”

He said the nuclear issue had not come up in his discussion with Ntsaluba – although it has been a contentious issue in the past between SA – which is a strong advocate of nuclear disarmament – and both India and Pakistan.

Khokhar said Pakistan did not consider the ANC’s longer historical ties with its rival India as a problem for SA-Pakistan relations.

“No we don’t look at it that way. We always look at it positively. Any country that has good relations with India, we respect that.

We always believe it gives you some sort of leverage to influence India in a nice way.”

Khokhar said that despite Pakistan’s suspicions about the activities of Ganchi and Ismail, he was not concerned that SA would become an exporter of al-Qaeda-type terrorists.

“That would be going too far. You can have a crackpot in any country or a misguided person anywhere else. It would be unfair to hold a country or a community responsible for the misdeeds of one or two individuals.”

Khokar firmly rejected criticism from some that Pakistan had become a mere surrogate in the United States’s war against international terrorism, saying that it had been forced to take on terrorism to protect itself.

“If you are living in a house, you can move your house, but you can’t change your country. So from that point of view, we are in a very strategic place and unfortunately international terrorism is focused on Afghanistan and its borders with Pakistan.

“But let me tell you we are totally committed and we are very clear that we have to fight terrorism in all its … manifestations. And we are doing this not for anyone else, but because its in our own vital interests to root out terrorism from our own region.

“We are the victims of terrorism. There have been two major attacks on the president’s life, there was an attack on the finance minister now running for the office of the prime minister, there was an attack on one of our senior military commanders which has never happened in the past.

“So that is why we are so committed to it and we have a huge deployment of forces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

We are sort of pushing from our side and the Americans and others are pushing from the other side. So we have a hammer and anvil approach. So we hope we will be able to overcome this scourge.”

Although SA has been critical of aspects of the war against terrorism, Khokhar said it did not come up in his meeting with Ntsaluba.

“I really don’t know what reservations SA has. But certainly we are playing a very vital role in our region. We have captured approximately 600 al-Qaeda activists and handed them over the US and other countries.

“Where we have a certain commonality with South Africa is that the root causes of terrorism have to be addressed. That’s even more important. You can have a military approach and you can have a political approach. And in Pakistan we are trying to do both.

“When we feel a military approach is required we are firm, we are very clear when we take action. And when a political approach is required we take a political approach and we try to see if they can complement each other.

“You are very fortunate if your country has not had any experience of terrorism and pray that it remains that way.”

Khokhar said Pakistan also shared SA’s criticism of the “unilateral” approach of the US and its allies to the war in Iraq. “We were one of the few countries that did criticise the action, or rather we deplored it. I think that was the word we used.”

“We felt…we were not being apologists for Mr Saddam, but our objections were that this would cause a lot of ill-will and unhappiness and a lot of loss of life and property, destruction and perhaps diplomatic means should have been given a better chance. We were for the UN route.”