Karachi, October 5
External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh today worked on two key tenets of Indian diplomatic initiative vis a vis Pakistan — strengthening people-to-people contacts and trade and economic ties — when he met leaders of two major Pakistani Opposition parties, Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, and addressed captains of Pakistani industry.

He also made a strategic point with representatives of the Federation of Pakistani Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) when he asked them to appeal to their government, for their own good, to grant India trade transit rights to Central Asia and Gulf.

Mr Natwar Singh rang up his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri from here to thank him once again for his hospitality and took the opportunity during this courtesy call to apprise Mr Kasuri of his interactions with various segments of Pakistani society here.

The EAM, here in the biggest Pakistani city after a gap of 23 years, also visited the Indian Consulate building “India House” which is being renovated going to become functional by the turn of this year. Mr Natwar Singh had last visited Karachi when he was Indian Ambassador to Pakistan in the 80s when Pakistan was not a member of the Commonwealth.

Interestingly, his meetings with PPP and MQM leaders today were not secret and a woman representative from the Pakistani Foreign Office was present throughout, in stark contrast to closed room secret confabulations Pakistani leaders have with leaders of the separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference when they visit New Delhi.

His talks with the five-member PPP delegation and the 11-member MQM delegation focussed on the need for giving a further filip to people-to-people contacts. The PPP delegation comprised Mr Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Mr Nabeel Gabol, Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Mr Nisar Ahmad Khuhro — all members of National Assembly — and Senator Raza Rabbani.

The MQM delegation which called on Mr Natwar Singh was far bigger and included Dr Muhammed Farooq Sattar, the party’s Deputy Convener, who is also leader of MQM in the National Assembly and Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. Other MQM delegates at the meeting were: Mr Anwar Alam, In charge Central Coordination Committee, Mr Shakeel Umer, Mr Waseem Aftab and Dr Nusrat (all members of the MQM Central Coordination Committee), Sardar Ahmed, senior minister in the government of Sindh, Mr M.A. Jalil, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister and other MQM leaders.

Mr Natwar Singh utilised his interaction with the captains of Pakistani industry for underlining the need for further invigorating the bilateral trade and commerce as well as making a strategic point. Without referring directly to Pakistan’s persistent denial to India of transit rights to Afghanistan, the minister said Karachi was poised at the threshold of a great expansion as Pakistan moved to harness its potential as a “hub country”. He said expansion in trade and economic cooperation between India and Pakistan will lead Karachi to an even more successful and qualitatively new stage of its evolution as a trading and commercial capital of Asia and the world.

The EAM stressed that India and Pakistan were on the threshold of a major expansion in people-to-people and business contacts and the reopening of the Consulates General in Mumbai and Karachi and starting of the Khokhrapar-Munabao rail service relfected the desire of both the governments to facilitate the expansion of such contacts to the maximum.

“Once we have better banking, airline, shipping and road transport links with each other, the results will be even more significant. It is our expectation that in the next few months there will be considerable advances in each of these specific sectors,” the minister remarked.