Kolkata: Pakistan High Commissioner in India Shahid Malik on Friday dismissed as "allegations" reports that fake Indian currency recovered in Delhi was printed in his country.
"These are allegations and these are charges. The media
has been mentioning that. I have also read about it. But as I
said, these are allegations which keep surfacing from time to
time," Malik told reporters when asked to comment about
reports that the currency was printed in Pakistan.
Earlier, speaking at an interactive session on
`India-Pakistan Bilateral Trade`, Malik said normalisation of
relation between the two countries was of critical importance
in realising the vision of a peaceful and progressive South
Asia.
Observing that Pakistan`s geo-strategic location gave
it an "unrivalled relevance" in the region and beyond, he
said, "This places on Pakistan the onerous responsibility of
prudent conduct of its relation with our immediate neighbours
and, indeed, with the rest of the world."
Both countries are engaged in a dialogue for the last
five years and discussions were taking place on eight topics
including Kashmir, bilateral trade, people-to- people contact
and water-related issues, he said, adding, "We in Pakistan
hope the dialogue with India would be uninterrupted and
uninterruptable."
Describing Pakistan as a "responsible nuclear power", he
said, "We are not seeking hegemony anywhere in the world, but
at the same time, we will not accept it from any quarter."
Malik said all political parties in Pakistan attached
highest importance to the ongoing peace process with India.
"All major political parties in Pakistan... the Opposition,
the government and Parliament, sincerely desire improvement of
bilateral relation with India."
Pointing out that relation between India and Pakistan
had been conflictual rather than friendly despite many
commonalities, he said, "We have to carry on a serious
introspection as to why, despite our commonalities which
should have been our strength, we have not been able to build
on them."
He said that the two countries had areas of strength
that could complement and supplement each other to create a
mutually beneficial situation in the context of trade.
"This would also contribute to economic integration
at the regional level as the two economies are the largest
among the SAARC member-states."
A lot of ground, however, needs to be covered to
achieve the potential of economic cooperation between the two
countries, Malik said.
"Imperatives of peace and prosperity in South Asia
are not different from other regions of the world. The first
essential step is to acknowledge the root causes of various
issues, difficulties and conflicts between us. The two
countries must have the will to address them sincerely and
peacefully. Difficult decisions in any field cannot be put on
hold forever," he said.
He, however, cautioned that confidence-building
measures between the two countries were bound to collapse
"under their own weight" unless there was tangible progress in
settling core issues.
PTI
