Pak, India close to conclude a pact on Sir Creek: Kasuri

Islamabad, Sep 29 (PTI) Pakistan and India are close
to concluding an agreement on the Sir Creek maritime boundary
dispute, which has been hanging fire for decades, with all
issues having been resolved, former Foreign Minister Khurshid
Mehmood Kasuri has said.

"On Sir Creek, President (Asif Ali) Zardari and (Prime
Minister) Manmohan Singh could sign an agreement tomorrow as a
lot of work has been done," Kasuri told Geo News in an
interview.

The joint map and joint survey has been done and there
are no more issues to be resolved between the countries, he
said.

Kasuri's remarks assume significance as President Asif
Ali Zardari in his address to the National Assembly had stated
that Islamabad and New Delhi could resolve issues like Sir
Creek and Siachen at the earliest.

Kasuri, a close confidant of former President Pervez
Musharraf, claimed "70 to 80 percent" of issues related to
the military standoff between the two countries on the Siachen
glacier had also been resolved.

Referring to India's demand for authentication of
troop positions on Siachen ahead of the final solution of the
issue, he said Pakistan had turned down this proposal as it
would have meant accepting India's "aggression".

However, he said both countries had found a way to
meet their "basic agreements" without resorting to
authentication of troop positions. He did not give details.

Replying to a question on the Composite Dialogue
process between Pakistan and India, Kasuri said there was a
"lot of progress" in resolving the Kashmir dispute as New
Delhi had shown flexibility on the issue.

He said there was a need for "political will" to
settle the issue.

Progress on the Kashmir issue and the Composite
Dialogue had been hampered by domestic political developments
in the two countries, Kasuri said.

He dismissed contention that India did not have the
will to settle the Kashmir dispute, pointing out that both
countries had held intense back channel consultations and
exchanged non-papers on the issue.

Further progress on the Kashmir issue would now be
possible only after General Election in India in 2009, he
said. However, President Asif Ali Zardari is a political
figure and it would therefore be easy for him to move forward
on the issue, he added. PTI RHL
BK