M A I N   N E W S

Pak waives duty on 600 Indian items

Islamabad, June 18
Notwithstanding the ongoing tensions between the two countries, Pakistan has offered India duty exemption on hundreds of new export items from June 15. As many as 600 Indian items have been given a 10 per cent duty exemption under the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA). Interestingly, even the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) under the SAARC charter have not been provided any concessions on these items.

SAARC states, other than India, have been put in the LDCs category. India also gets exemptions, along with the LDCs, on 30 other items, which include olive oil, table and kitchen ware, paper, fabrics used in manufacture of tubes and tyres of vehicles, kerosene heaters, etc.

The bulk of the concessions, say sources, however, come on consumer goods like milk powder of certain varieties, natural honey, a host of wrist watches and clocks, potatoes and onions, knitting and punching machines and stones such as sapphires and emeralds. On these, India has been granted a 20 per cent exemption while the LDCs have got none.

The new Pakistan duty exemption package also provided concessions to Iran and Turkey, not, of course, under SAPTA but under a separate set of rules which entitle these countries to such exemptions.

Officials were not immediately available to comment on it but the new order could pave the way for normalisation of trade relations which have always been linked by Pakistan to resolution of the Kashmir issue.

However, Pakistan so far has not extended the Most Favoured Nation status to India which was required under the SAARC charter even though India has extended the same to Pakistan along with other members. ANI, PTI

Civilian dies in Pak shelling
Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 18
A civilian was killed and four others were wounded when the Pakistani troops resorted to heavy firing and shelling from across the Poonch and Rajouri sectors during the last 12 hours.

Defence Ministry officials said the Pakistani mortar shells exploded in the bus stand at Bahawani in the Nowshehra sector of Rajouri, killing Tilak Raj on the spot and wounding two other civilians. A bus belonging to state roadways transport corporation was damaged.

The Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar shelling from across the Laam sector in Rajouri. Several villages in R.S. Pora, Pargwal, Hiranagar, Samba and Akhnoor were rocked by heavy calibre weapon firing by the Pakistani troops.

Officials said the Indian troops retaliated destroying at least seven Pakistani bunkers across Nowshehra, Laam, R.S. Pora and Samba in which three to five Pakistani soldiers were killed.

Pervez: Pak nukes can deter India

Islamabad, June 18
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has claimed heightened international concerns over an Indo-Pak nuclear conflict and India’s "hesitation" to launch a "limited war" on Pakistan demonstrated that strategic balance exists in South Asia and that Islamabad’s conventional and nuclear capability could deter New Delhi from attacking.

"Heightened international concerns of a nuclear conflict in South Asia, and the hesitation, frustration and inability of India to attack Pakistan or conduct a so-called limited war, bear ample testimony to the fact that strategic balance exists in South Asia and that Pakistan’s conventional and nuclear capability together deter aggression," he said yesterday night at a dinner hosted in honour of Pakistani nuclear scientists and engineers.

Claiming that the theory of deterrence has worked, President Musharraf, however, did not refer to decisions taken by his government, particularly to halt cross-border infiltration of militants, which was demanded by India.

He said Pakistan does not want war with India but favours peaceful resolution of all issues, including Kashmir.

"Pakistan’s policy is one of restraint and responsibility. Despite provocations, we have demonstrated this over the past few months. We do not want war, we are for peaceful resolution of all disputes, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir," he added. PTI

India rubbishes Pervez’s claim
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 18
India today rubbished Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s claim that New Delhi hesitated to launch a strike because of his country’s nuclear deterrence.

While accusing Islamabad of trying to justify its nuclear blackmail, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao said, “The international community should not ignore such continued manifestations of Pakistani irresponsibility, loose talk and undiluted hostility towards India and the continued concoction of doomsday theories to justify Pakistan’s use of nuclear blackmail”.

She said this while replying to a particular question on President Musharraf’s remarks that “heightened international concerns of a nuclear conflict in South Asia and the hesitation, frustration and inability of India to attack Pakistan or conduct a so-called limited war, bear ample testimony to the fact that strategic balance exists in South Asia and that Pakistan’s conventional and nuclear capability together deter aggression.”