Pakistan assures India it won't raise bilateral issues at ARF
AFP, Yogyakarta
Pakistan has assured India that it will not raise any bilateral disputes if it is allowed to join a regional security forum, an Indonesian foreign ministry official said yesterday. Makarim Wibisono said India had expressed its concerns that Pakistan would use the 23-member Asean regional forum (ARF) to raise issues such as Kashmir. But Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda has written to his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha to relay Pakistan's assurances, Wibisono said. "There was a letter from the Pakistani foreign minister (Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri) guaranteeing that Pakistan will not raise bilateral issues," Wibisono told reporters. He said India and Pakistan have lobbied Indonesia, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), on the issue. "We have told the Indians that their concerns have been addressed."
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