(From left) Natwar Singh with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Prime Minister-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz and foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri in Islamabad on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Islamabad, July 20: Ignoring Pakistan’s efforts to drag the Kashmir dispute into the Saarc forum, foreign minister Natwar Singh today stressed India’s desire to promote cooperation among South Asian nations, particularly in alleviating poverty.

Singh also called for collective effort at every level to “eradicate the scourge of terrorism” from the region. At the Saarc council of ministers’ meeting this afternoon, he said: “The national common minimum programme of the Indian government has made poverty alleviation its principal focus. We have enunciated targets in areas such as employment, health, education, empowerment of women, food and nutrition, and environment in order to enhance the welfare and well-being of the people of India.”

“It is in this spirit that India would like to promote the Saarc’s cooperation in collaborative projects for poverty alleviation.”

Singh also suggested a number of proposals to strengthen the Saarc’s charter in other key areas. The proposals included hosting a conference on AIDS, setting up a High Economic Council, comprising finance and commerce ministers of member nations, and putting in place a Saarc Infrastructure Fund.

Earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said in his inaugural address that Islamabad would remain committed to resolving all conflicts with Delhi, including that of Jammu and Kashmir.

“I am happy to report that with the vision and the will Pakistan has under the leadership of President Musharraf, we have embarked upon making a meaningful effort to resolve all differences with India, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” the Prime Minister said.

Pakistani foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri also attempted to link the success of the Saarc summit with improvement of ties between Islamabad and Delhi, pointing out that economic growth and development in South Asia could take place only if there is “peace and harmony”.

“The vision of South Asia joining the Asian mainstream to fast economic growth and development can only be realised if there is peace and harmony,” he said.

Kasuri added that resumption of composite dialogue between Pakistan and India was a “welcome development”. “We are committed to making the peace process a success. I have no doubt that this augurs well for the Saarc and over 1.4 billion people of this region,” he said.

Not missing out on the chance to try to weave the bilateral dispute into the Saarc charter, Kasuri said: “In visualising Saarc’s future, we must give serious thought to devising ways and means whereby political differences and disputes within the region are settled amicably.”

Kasuri, on his part, also referred to the “scourge of terrorism” that, he said, plaguing several countries in the world, including South Asia. The Pakistani minister urged the Saarc members to cooperate more closely on political, official and organisational fronts to eradicate terrorism.

Though India did not react formally to Kasuri’s suggestion, officials made it clear that there was no question of bringing in bilateral disputes and contentious issues into Saarc.

“Right from the beginning, this has been the spirit and I don’t think we are going to bring about a change now,” said a senior Indian official.

The Indian team also did not seem too keen on the proposal, floated by Pakistan, of including China in Saarc.

“I am pleased to learn that the People’s Republic of China has expressed its interest to associate closely with Saarc. This is a very welcome development,” Shujaat Hussain had said.

But Delhi does not think it would good idea to include Beijing in an outfit where it is already having problems in dealing with Islamabad.