Krishna looking forward his meeting with Pak Foreign Minister
NEW DELHI, Nov. 17 (APP) Indian External Affairs Foreign Minister said here on Tuesday that he was looking forward his meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of CHOGM meeting in Trinidad being held this month.
Talking to newsmen, S M Krishna said India wanted cordial and friendly relations with every country, including Pakistan. Krishna said whenever he and
Quereshi met, they exchanged notes and said that he was looking forward
to their meeting in Trinidad. When asked about activities of a
US citizen David Headley, who was arrested by FBI in the United States,
he said such issues are being looked into very carefully from the point
of view of security angle and perhaps in the days to come, you might
see more on this,” he said told newsmen on the sidelines of a function
here. Earlier, inaugurating a Conference on South Asian economic integration S M Krishna said Saarc countries
represent one-fifth of humanity and the regional countries can harness
full potential through closer economic cooperation. Unfortunately, Krishna said
regional engagements fall far short when compared to the success
achieved in other regions, such as ASEAN because of the security
situation. “Issues such as cross border
terrorism and incidents of anti-India activities from territories of
our neighbouring countries have impacted on the process of regional
economic engagement, connectivity and people-to-people contacts,” he
said. The state of overall political
relations influenced other processes, including economic and trade
relations and the development of Saarc as an instrument of regional
growth, he said. However, he said Saarc has
achieved some objectives including initiation of regional projects
through Saarc Development Fund; increased people-to-people level
activities; and establishment of regional entities such as the South
Asian University in New Delhi, the Saarc Standards Regional
Organisation in Dhaka and the Saarc Arbitration Council in Islamabad. The SAARC ‘brand’ is set to grow stronger in coming decades, he hoped. He further said the Saarc Food
Bank is now operational with a total stock of 2,43,000 MT contributed
by all Saarc member states. The establishment of the South
Asian University is on schedule, funding by the Saarc Development
Fund’s Social Window is underway and Saarc Textiles Museum in New Delhi
is on the threshold of establishment, Krishna added.
News 
