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Japanese PM to Discuss Nuke Issue, Pak-India Tension with Musharraf
Japanese Prime Minister Yashiro Mori will discuss with Pakistan Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf about the nuclear issue and Indo-Pak tension during his visit to the South Asian country on August 21.
Mori will arrive in Islamabad on August 20 on a two-day visit to Pakistan as part of his seven-day tour to four south Asian countries, Japanese Ambassador in Islamabad Sadaaki Numata made a background briefing here Friday.
It will be the first visit of a Japanese prime minister to the region in the past ten years. Mori will visit Bangladesh on August, 19 before flying into Islamabad. He will leave for India on August 21 and then will go to Nepal on the last leg of his tour.
There is no "fixed agenda" for talks between the two leaders but bilateral relations would figure in their discussion, said a diplomatic source in the Japanese Embassy requesting anonymity.
Pakistan-India tension, the source said, had been a source of concern to Tokyo which had been urging both the sides to solve all the outstanding issues.
When asked about the resumption of development assistance to Pakistan, the diplomatic source said, signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Test (CTBT) remains the main hindrance in way of its restoration.
"Japan awaits Pakistan's positive signals in its response to CTBT," said the source.
Tokyo has suspended its development assistance to both Islamabad and New Delhi in the wake of their nuclear tests in 1998.
When asked how Japan could play any role in scaling down tension between India and Pakistan, the source said, it will depend on the parties concerned.
"We are following recent developments with keen interest, given this very difficult problem between India and Pakistan," the diplomatic source said.
Any initiative which has some chance of success in reducing tension between the two sides, it said, should be encouraged.
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