ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 Kyodo The leade...

ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 Kyodo

The leaders of all seven southerly Asian states will participate in a summit in Islamabad early nearest month despite two attempts this month upon the life of President Gen Pervez Musharraf in the adjoining garrison city of Rawalpindi, a senior Pakistan management official said Saturday.

Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar told reporters that all member-states of the southern Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have confirmed participation in the Jan. 4-6 summit at all levels

He said no member has exhibited concern about Pakistani security arrangements for the summit.

Khokhar was asked to remark on Indian media reports that the Indian security agencies have advised Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to call on the farther side or curtail his visit to Pakistan for the summit.

He said no bilateral meeting has been scheduled between Pakistani and Indian leaders upon the sidelines of the summit, granting visiting prime ministers and heads of state would make individual calls forward Musharraf before a banquet planned for Jan. 4

The foreign secretary said a southerly Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Framework Treaty being negotiated for several years has been held up because of the demand according to one SAARC member state for ''enhanced and special treatment for less-develop countries in the region.''

Senior SAARC mercantile relations officials had met in Islamabad earlier this week to finalize an agreement for propos FTA between Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Pakistan.

below the proposed arrangements, members would shorten tariffs for intra-regional trade to naught in two phases while providing special protection to Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

While Pakistan has extended maintained that it and India cannot have normal trade until the Kashmir dispute is resolv the foreign secretary said his conduct is nevertheless fully committed to the universal of free trade in the words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following of SAARC.

''We do not descry any change in Pakistan's policy forward Kashmir,'' he said.

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