WRITTEN QUESTION E-1021/01

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Relations between India and Pakistan

The perverse decisions taken recently by the Afghan government have highlighted the permanently strained relations between India and Pakistan over the issue of Kashmir. Since border disputes between the two countries have remained unresolved for a number of decades and the neighbouring countries China and Afghanistan have been involved either directly or indirectly, the conflict between India and Pakistan has all the makings of a major international flashpoint.

As the European Union is seeking to play a more important role on the international political scene and the two countries concerned are major trading partners, will the Council say:

1. What is the state today of EU relations with India and Pakistan, respectively?

2. What agreements have been concluded between the European Union and India and Pakistan, respectively?

3. Has it ever raised the problem of Kashmir in its occasional discussions with these two countries?

4. Has it so far taken any initiatives to find a solution to the problem of Kashmir and, if not, does it intend to do so?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council shares the Honourable MEP's worries over the tensions between India and Pakistan.

Concerning the various aspects of the question, the Council would like to point out the following:

1. Concerning the state of the EU's relation with India, the Council invites the Honourable MEP to revert to the reply given to Question H-0301/2001 by Gerard Collins MEP during Question Time in April 2001, a copy of which is annexed to the present answer.

2. As far as Pakistan is concerned, the Council has, in reaction to the military coup of 1999, suspended the signature of the 3rd generation EC-Pakistan Co-operation Agreement and the regular political dialogue meetings. The EC continues, however, to provide development assistance to the most vulnerable parts of the Pakistani population as well as humanitarian assistance to Afghan refugees stranded in Pakistan. Furthermore, the Council has conducted on an ad hoc basis two high-level Troika missions to Pakistan, in November 1999 and November 2000 respectively, during which the Troika has raised the EU's various preoccupations with the highest Pakistani authorities, including Gen. Musharraf. On these occasions, the Troika pointed explicitly to the situation in Kashmir and invited Pakistan to work for a reduction of tension, restraint over the Line of Control and a resumption of dialogue with India.

3. Similar messages have been addressed to the Indian government on the occasion of the regular political dialogue meetings which the EU holds with India, including at the level of Heads of Government, Foreign Ministers and Senior Officials.

4. EU-India relations are based on EC-India Co-operation agreement of 1993 which entered into force in August 1994, on the Joint Political Statement signed on the same occasion, and on the Joint Summit declaration of June 2000. A bilateral agreement on Science and Technology is currently being negotiated between India and the EC, and negotiations on a Customs Cooperation agreement are likely to start soon. Exploratory talks on a EC-India Agreement on Maritime Transport will be held in on 19 May 2001 in New Delhi.

5. As far as the Union's support for a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue is concerned, the Council would like to refer the Honourable MEP to its reply to Oral Question H-0375/2001 by Brian Crowley MEP during Question Time in May 2001, a copy of which is annexed to the present answer.