Islamabad: Asserting his country was committed to South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) process to promote regional trade, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said no member country, including India and Pakistan, has the right to set preconditions for holding of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) meeting.

"Neither India nor Pakistan has the authority to set any preconditions for holding of the meeting", Kasuri told BBC Radio while reacting to India's insistence on progress on trade and economic agenda to make "meaningful" the SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in January 2004.

Kasuri termed India's acceptance to participate in the scheduled SAARC summit as "a welcoming development" and said Pakistan was committed to SAARC process.

On the progress on South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and SAFTA, which formed the base for regional trade in SAARC bloc, Kasuri said so far four rounds of talks were held on SAPTA by the member countries and if there is any major problem in SAFTA, it can be brought to the notice of the summit.

There has been significant progress in the field of trade under the SAARC umbrella, the Minister said.

To a question, he said it is a reality that a dialogue is needed between India and Pakistan though it might not be held under the umbrella of SAARC.

However, the summit will help reduce tension and pave the way for bilateral dialogue, Kasuri said.

He said the region comprising the SAARC countries has been lagging behind resulting in the increase of poverty in South Asia. While the other regional blocks in the world progressed rapidly, SAARC has not taken off in spite of the people’s desire, Kasuri added.

PTI