Pakistan and Switzerland on Saturday agreed to further expand their political and economic ties and called for a negotiated settlement of the issue over Iran's nuclear programme.
Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri and his Swiss counterpart Mrs Micheline Calmy-Rey held extensive discussion on bilateral and regional issues including the implications of recent US-India nuclear deal for the global non-proliferation efforts.
Talking to reporters jointly after the formal talks, Kasuri reiterated Pakistan's stance on the Iran's nuclear controversy, saying that Islamabad fully supports negotiated and peaceful solutions to the issue.
"We respect Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy under adequate IAEA safeguards and also called on it (Iran) to observe its obligations under the NPT," the minister said. Pakistan, he added, was opposed to the use of force and believed that diplomatic engagements would be critical to efforts for finding a peaceful solution to the issue.
The Swiss minister said her country supports NPT and was in favour of dialogue and prevention of escalation. Firmly supporting the diplomatic course and dialogue, Mrs Calmy-Rey said sanctions and military measures were not adequate to achieve the solution of the problem.
Kasuri shared with her Pakistan's perspective on the recent US-India agreement on civil nuclear co-operation, which, he added, would have serious implication for security environment in South Asia. "A package approach would have better served the objective of strategic stability and would also met legitimate energy requirements of both (Pakistan and India)," he added.
Kasuri said that Pakistan opposed any discriminatory approach and merits the support of the international community including Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
He said Switzerland was an important member of the NSG and asked it to play a constructive role in this respect. Swiss Foreign Minister Mrs Micheline Calmy-Rey said that her country was also closely following the recent US-India nuclear deal vis-à-vis its implications for non-proliferation efforts at the global level. The Swiss foreign minister said that her country did not believe in a discriminatory approach.
Referring to a recent NSG meeting, she said, Switzerland called to carefully ponder whether special treatment for India could be envisaged in the light of past non-proliferation record. "Switzerland has a balanced position and we are asking ourselves whether an exception for India would not set a precedent for the policy towards other states not having signed the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and it could also compromise the credibility of the non-proliferation efforts towards other states," she added.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Afghanistan as Kasuri told his Swiss counterpart that Pakistan had a direct stake in the peace, progress and stability of Afghanistan and had been extending full co-operation to achieve this objective.
The foreign minister also took up the issue of blasphemous sketches with the Swiss foreign minister and agreed to work together for promoting interfaith harmony and dialogue of the civilisations.
The Swiss foreign minister said her country attached great importance to its ties with Pakistan and added that her visit would further strengthen the bilateral relations. "We consider Pakistan as a very important partner in the region and we highly recognise the importance of Pakistan to promote stability and security in this part of the world," she added.
She expressed the confidence that the government's policies and the country's impressive macroeconomic achievements would lead to building a prosper future for the country and its people.
Mrs Calmy-Rey said Pakistan has a key role in the Islamic world and the visit provided the opportunity to deepen understanding between the two countries on political, economic, human rights, migration and international issues.
The Swiss minister said that her country did not believe in the theory of clash of civilisations. "We share with Pakistan the necessity for mutual respect, dialogue and understanding," she added.
On bilateral economic ties, the Swiss minister called for giving serious attention to rectifying the trade imbalance between the two countries, which was in favour of Switzerland.
She noted with satisfaction that quite a number of Swiss firms were operating in Pakistan and that Switzerland was the 7th most important foreign direct investor in the country. The minister said that the two sides agreed to make more efforts to promote direct investment in Pakistan.
Responding to a question, the Swiss minister said her government would not like to have an image of the country, which is protecting "bad money" in her financial system. She said her country had a big financial system and wanted it to be clean and did not want to protect the bad money.
The minister said that her government had some money blocked in Swiss accounts for Pakistani people and the two countries were discussing some legal procedure in this regard. Earlier, in his opening statement, Foreign Minister Kasuri described the talks as very useful and productive that took place in a cordial atmosphere.
The minister thanked her for Switzerland's relief assistance and commitment of $40 million for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the October 8 earthquake-devastated areas.
The Swiss foreign minister's visit marks the 40th year of scientific and technological co-operation between the two countries.
Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) has been and remains active in Pakistan. "We agreed to further strengthen the ongoing development co-operation as well as educational and technological exchanges," Kasuri said.
The two sides agreed on the need for tapping the vast unexploited potential for enhancing bilateral economic relations.
The minister emphasised the desirability of institutionalisation of economic relations and proposed reactivation of the MoU signed between Board of Investment and Swiss Organisation for Facilitating Investment (Sofi).
Kasuri also sought inclusion of Pakistan in Swiss Import Promotion Programme (Sippo) which will offer trade benefits.
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