India - Pakistan Joint Statement
Date: March 19, 1999
Place: Nuvara Eliya, Sri Lanka
March 19, 1999
The Foreign Minister
of Pakistan, Mr. Sartaj Aziz and the Minister of External Affairs of
India, Shri Jaswant Singh met today on the sidelines of the 21st Session
of the SAARC Council of Ministers at Nuvara Eliya, Sri Lanka.
They reiterated the
historic significance of the Lahore Declaration which embodies the
vision of the Prime Minsters of the two countries for ending the legacy
of tensions and conficts of the past fifty years and for ushering a new
era of peace, security and prosperity. They discussed ways and means to
build on the Lahore Declaration which commits the two countres to build
trust and confidence, develop mutually beneficial cooperation and
intensify their efforts to resolve all outstanding issues including
Jammu and Kashmir.
The two Foreign Ministers
agreed on the urgency of taking concrete measures for implementation of
the Lahore Declaration, the Memorandum of Understanding and the Joint
Statement issued during the Lahore Summit. In this context, the
Ministers agreed that the composite and integrated dialogue process must
be intensified.
The Ministers agreed to
the following:
(i) The meeting of Experts
for implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding will be held over
the next two months.
(ii) The next round of the
composite and integrated dialogue process in accordance with the agreed
agenda will commence in May 1999 in New Delhi and Islamabad and will be
held over a period of six weeks.
(iii) They will meet
shortly after the conclusion of the May-June Round of the composite and
integrated dialogue process.
(iv) The Committee on
humanitarian issues composed of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of
Pakistan and the Minister of State of External Affairs of India set up
by the Prime Ministers at the Lahore Summit will meet in April 1999 to
formalize the agreement on the issue of release of civilian prisoners as
well as to discuss other humanitarian issues.
(v) That both sides have
agreed to relax the visa regime for several categories of visitors. The
specific visa relaxation measures shall be announced by the two
Governments shortly.
(vi) Delegations of
experts from India shall visit Pakistan during April 1999 for
identifying areas of cooperation in information technology, Y2K and WTO-related
issues.
Press Release Issued
By
Navtej Sarna
Counselor (Press, Information & Culture)
Embassy of India
Washington, DC
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