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Saturday,
August 30, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Benazir
blames Pervez for tension with India WTO drugs
deal stalled over last-minute squabble We are
ready to discuss Kashmir, says Sinha 6 nations
agree to continue talks on
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Enriched N-material found in Iran,
says UN
USA
ignores Chinese objections on Dalai Lama’s visit
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Benazir blames Pervez for tension with India
Islamabad, August 29 “Pakistan-India tensions mounted ever since General Musharraf took over power in a military coup in 1999”, Ms Bhutto said while addressing a tele-press conference from London. “Ever since Musharraf usurped power, Pakistan and India came close to a war three times”, she said, adding that the bomb blasts in Mumbai heightened the tensions further between the two countries. Ms Bhutto had on Wednesday hinted at the involvement of General Musharraf in the twin blasts as his attempt to deflect mounting international pressure on him to capture terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. “It is significant to note that whenever there is pressure to arrest Laden, Pakistan’s border with India becomes tense”, she had said in a statement. She said, “A report in the ‘Guardian’ of August 23 that Musharraf was under increasing international pressure to capture Laden coincided with the Mumbai blasts”. Ms Bhutto said short-sighted policies pursued by General Musharraf on the external front had led to Afghanistan developing good relations with India. The former Prime Minister said she favoured sending of troops to Iraq but only under the umbrella of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference or the Gulf Cooperation Council. Ms Bhutto offered General Musharraf a “safe exit” out of the prevailing political crisis if he held a meeting with her Pakistan People’s Party(PPP). General Musharraf should opt for reconciliation and accept the demands of restoration of the 1973 constitution and revival of democracy. For this, he should meet with the PPP leaders, she said. She said if General Musharraf took steps to satisfy the PPP, she would take Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) aides into confidence to give him a safe exit. The PPP is a major partner in the ARD along with deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N, (PML-N) led by Mr Sharif. Ms Bhutto also said she preferred to return home along with Mr Sharif, who too lives in exile in Jeddah. She said it would be good if a situation emerged wherein she and Mr Sharif returned home in the same plane to fight for the restoration of democracy.
— PTI |
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WTO drugs deal stalled over last-minute squabble Geneva, August 29 Negotiators said last-minute requests from Argentina, the Philippines and several other nations to make statements on their interpretations of the deal ahead of WTO approval halted what was expected to be a rubber stamp ruling. “There is no deal. More consultations are required,” WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told journalists. Trade officials said talks might continue later on Friday, but added that there was little time left to wrap up an accord because envoys would soon leave Geneva to return to their capitals to brief trade ministers ahead of a five-day trade summit in Cancun, Mexico, starting on September 10. “I cannot rule out an agreement (in the general council) before Cancun, but this makes it more difficult,” Rockwell said. Making it easier for poorer states unable to manufacture medicines to import cheap generic drugs when they need to is seen as vital to beating major killer diseases such as AIDS and malaria. But it means setting aside patents owned by multinational firms which are protected by trade rules. Negotiators said the problems surfaced at the close of the so-called TRIPS council, the top negotiating body on the drugs question, which includes all the WTO’s 146 member states. A number of countries said they wanted to spell out their interpretations of the text before its formal approval in the general council. “It became clear that people had different perspectives on the text...and we would not be able to get an agreement,” Rockwell said. WTO countries had earlier signalled their support for a pact that had been hammered out during days of negotiations between the USA, home to some of the world’s largest drugs concerns, Brazil, India, Kenya and South Africa. Brazil and India are major producers of generic drugs which are cheaper copies of patented medicines, while Kenya and South Africa represented countries most affected by the scourges of AIDS and malaria. The existing world trade rules allow countries — developed or developing — with their own domestic drugs industry to waive patents and issue compulsory licences to generic manufacturers when they face health emergencies. But the regulations say nothing about states without their own drugs industry and WTO states have been battling for nearly two years to agree on a solution.
— Reuters |
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We are ready to discuss Kashmir, says Sinha
Melbourne, August 29 “We are continuing to promote friendly relations with Pakistan, but our friendship has been met with rebuff,” Mr Sinha, who is on a four day visit to Australia, said while speaking to the Indian community here last night. “The progress of normalisation will be a step-by-step process. We are ready to discuss Jammu and Kashmir and we are on a strong wicket, but progress on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir shouldn’t hold up progress in other areas between the two countries. We are hoping that the people’s will in Pakistan will assert itself and prevail as common people still have a strong bond,” the minister said. Asked if India would send troops to Iraq, Mr Sinha said, “the USA made a request to us to send a division of 15,000 or 20,000 Indian troops to Iraq”. He said Indian troops serve under only two commands - the Indian and the United Nations. Speaking at the dinner hosted by him, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia R.S. Rathore said, “The Indian community in the state of Victoria is highly professional and skilled ethnic community in this multicultural society. It is mutual trust that underpins our bilateral relationship”.
— PTI  |
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6 nations agree to continue talks on N. Korea Beijing, August 29 “The six parties have agreed to hold a new round of six-party talks,” head of the South Korean delegation and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lee Soo-Hyuck said at a press conference following the conclusion of the three-day talks here. Lee said that the time and venue of the new round would be decided after consultations, probably within two months. He said the six-party talks were “fruitful” and the six sides had reached a consensus on a number of issues. All sides agreed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means, and the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula must be realised, he said.
— PTI |
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Enriched N-material found in Iran, says UN Vienna, August 29 “The discovery of enriched uranium is particularly worrying. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors found two different types of highly enriched particles. You do not need that to make nuclear power,” the diplomat told AFP. The findings are contained in a report by the IAEA that was handed to the UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors here on Tuesday ahead of a crucial meeting on Iran. The diplomat said the report poses questions that “all speak to the purpose of Iran’s nuclear programme” and shows “a pattern of non-compliance” with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
— AFP
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Power cut cripples London underground London, August 29 A failure in the national grid caused a power cut across the south of the capital, with hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses losing electricity. It also caused chaos on many roads where traffic lights shut down. Most of the underground network was brought to a sudden halt during the rush hour. Passengers stuck on trains were led along tunnels by staff and evacuated from stations. Surface rail services from major stations, including Victoria, London Bridge and Waterloo were also suspended, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
— IANS |
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USA ignores Chinese objections on Dalai Lama’s visit Washington, August 29 “The Dalai Lama is a Nobel laureate and revered religious leader. Obviously, in this trip he’ll meet appropriate US officials in his capacity as a religious leader,” State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said during his briefing here yesterday.
— PTI |
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Top Blair aide quits over
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