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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Pakistan, India should withdraw troops from Siachen: Zardari* President says foreign minister-level talks failed due to India’s internal problems
KARACHI/LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari has proposed the withdrawal of Indian and Pakistani troops from Siachen glacier, the highest battleground in the world, a private TV channel reported on Friday.
Talking to a delegation of journalists from the Sukkur, Hyderabad and Larkana press clubs at the Sindh Chief Minister’s House on Friday, President Zardari said India was spending $50 daily on each of its soldiers stationed at Siachen, while Rs 50 each were being spent on Pakistani soldiers.
“Even though Indian expenditures in Siachen are far more than Pakistan’s, we propose that the matter should be resolved amicably through talks, so that resources of the two countries can be spent on the welfare of their people,” he said.
He said that the talks between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India had failed due to India’s internal political problems. The president termed the United Nations’ report into Benazir Bhutto’s murder incomplete, saying the UN had released the report despite the government’s request to take more time to make it comprehensive. He said the government’s investigation into the assassination was still underway. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had faith in a free media, an independent judiciary and democracy.
Referring to the re-opening of the Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal, the president said that nationalist parties should not politicise the issue of water. “The water issue can trigger a civil war in the country. So the government is seeking a solution of the issue with the help of the four chief ministers and experts to avoid any confrontation in future,” he said. The president also rejected concerns expressed by the nationalist parties over the development of a new city, Zulfikarabad, in the Thatta district. daily times monitor/staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk