Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has agreed to the suggestion from his Pakistani counterpart, in the talks held between them here on Wednesday, to give banking licence on reciprocal basis. Briefing the newsmen on conclusion of his official talks, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that he cited the example of Afghanistan giving permission to Pakistan banks to open up branches in Kabul and Kandahar and how this had resulted in increasing the trade to one billion dollars during last one year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed with Pakistan's proposal and promised to ask the Reserve Bank of India to initially give licence to a Pakistani bank and requested Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to do the same with his central bank ie State Bank of Pakistan.
As part of increasing people to people contact both sides also agreed to raise the frequency of flights between the two neighbouring countries and to add more cities to air linkage.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also sounded his concern on the slow progress on resolution of Baglihar Dam in the secretary-level talks and requested the Indian counterpart for his personnel intervention as Pakistan feels that any manmade blockage of water flow in its share under the Indus Water Treaty would be a violation and could impact the confidence-building exercise between the two countries which is presently underway.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to speed up the dialogue process.
There were three sessions in the dialogue between the two Prime Ministers. The first was restricted to top officials, and was followed by a one-to-one session. Lastly, there were formal talks between the two sides.
Shaukat described his interaction with Indian PM as frank, with clarity and devoid of any ambiguity. Both sides expressed their keen desire for peace and resolution of all issues including the core issue of Kashmir.
The Pakistan side reiterated that the Line of Control is not acceptable as international border and that there could be no solution which was not acceptable to the people of Jammu of Kashmir, and that All Parties Hurriyat Conference has an important role to play in the dialogue on the issue.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz informed the Indian side of Pakistan's plan to obtain gas from Iran and Qatar to meet its growing hydrocarbon needs, and stressed upon India (where energy needs are even higher) to take a decision without "any bells and whistles". India is expected to respond with its reaction on the pipeline offer in a few days.
The Foreign Secretaries are scheduled to meet in December to finalise the Muzzafarabad-Srinagar bus service affair.
Later, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also met Indian President Abdul Kalaam and briefed him about his discussion with Indian side. And, President Kalaam also gave a presentation of the integrated rural development programme aimed at improving communications, using information technology for improving the economic life in rural area.
Prime Minister Aziz said "it takes two to tango" and both sides are trying to improve the atmosphere. President Musharraf's proposal of seven regions is aimed at resolving the Kashmir issue and the Indian side can also use any channel to put forth any proposal in the light of the agreement between President Musharraf and PM Singh reached in New York.
The Pakistan Prime Minister also sought cooperation from the Communist Party of India (a vital component of the Indian government) as well as the opposition leadership from BJP to help in taking forward the peace process. He invited them to visit Pakistan and also extended invitation to his Indian counterpart to visit Pakistan.
MUSIC DIPLOMACY: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz presented Ghazal CDs and Shalwar Kamees as gifts and former Prime Minister Vajpayee also gave CDs of his poems sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
PM Singh and his wife also received 'Rewri' (Sweets) from their ancestral town of Chakwal.