'Differences persist on SAFTA operationalisation'

New Delhi, Apr 2: Pakistan today acknowledged that it had differences with other SAARC nations on the modalities for the implementation of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) accord.

''There are slight differences on SAFTA...however, all countries are committed to the implementation of the accord,'' Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told reporters on the margins of a two-day journalists' meet, organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).

However, he dismissed suggestions that Islamabad was putting hurdles in the way of smooth implementation of SAFTA. ''We should stop spinning things as it will help us in a long way,'' he added.

Mr Kasuri, who earlier participated in the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting and also held bilateral parleys with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, noted that trade ties among SAARC nations were growing rapidly. The intra-SAARC trade had gone up by 400 per cent in the past 3 years, he added.

The Pakistani minister said he had held fruitful talks with Mr Mukherjee on the entire gamut of India-Pakistan relations, including the Kashmir and Siachen issues.

He said the two Foreign Ministers had agreed upon the dates for the talks on the Siachen issue, which would be announced soon.

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 5 after the 14th SAARC Summit to discuss progress in bilateral ties.

Asked if there were differences between the two countries on the issues to be taken up within the ambit of the joint mechanism on counter-terrorism, he replied in the negative. ''Both of us are committed to preventing the acts of terrorism,''he added.

Mr Kasuri also rejected the reported allegation of Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Taleban leader Mullah Omar was hiding in Pakistan. ''Mullah Omar is not a non entity that he can't be recognised...why should he be in Pakistan,'' he wondered.

UNI