Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that the recently signed Transit Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Washington has nothing to do with India. The Foreign Minister was talking to media and stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed on fast track conclusion of Afghanistan and Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement before end of the current year.
He was of the opinion that the trade agreement has nothing to do with India as it is totally Pakistan and Afghanistan specific and would not damage Pakistan''s interest in the region. The foreign minister further said that the two countries had agreed to set up a joint Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Co-ordination Committee to resolve all issues relating to cross-border commerce and inland trade.
The recent SCO Conference on Afghanistan, he said, has helped further strengthen SCO''s engagement with Afghanistan in the regional context. He said in the domain of energy trade, the Central Asia - South Asia Regional Electricity Market Initiative has made appreciable headway.
Talking about the ongoing military operation in Swat and Malakand division, the foreign minister said that the operation is successfully going on and hoped that it would come to a logical end. To a question, the foreign minister said that under the proposed Karry Lugar Bill, the United States would triple the assistance to Pakistan for its socio-economic development. Qureshi said that Pakistan has made it clear to the US that Pakistan''s nuclear assets are in safe hands and any country should not express its concern in this regard.