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  • Jul 20th, 2004
  • Comments Off on Natwar arrives with message of goodwill
Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh flew in here on Monday afternoon for the meeting of the Saarc Foreign Ministers saying that he will use the opportunity to contribute further "to creating an even better climate for taking forward our composite dialogue."

He said he had come with a message of goodwill from the government and the people of India for the government and people of Pakistan.

In an arrival statement at the airport, Natwar Singh said he would be meeting his counterparts on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers' session and also call on President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain.

He said the ministerial meeting would review progress on the implementation of the Saarc Convention on terrorism and its additional protocol as well as those related to the Social Charter and implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Programme to which his country had committed US $100 million.

The Ministerial Council, the Indian minister said would also prepare the ground for the Saarc Summit early next year in Bangladesh.

The Council of Foreign Ministers will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain at the Marriott Hotel on Tuesday and will conclude on Wednesday.

AFP ADDS: An Indian official said in New Delhi that Foreign Minister Natwar Singh was also expected to meet Pakistan's Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is to take over as prime minister next month.

Singh's discussions with Pakistani leaders would revolve around the Kashmir dispute and ways to advance the peace process, the official said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2004


Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004


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