Japan Desires for Restoration of Normal Relations with PakistanUpon arrival in Karachi from a 3-day visit to Japan, Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar Sunday said there was a desire in Japan for restoring normal relations with Pakistan, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.Sattar said that as growing understanding emerges in Japan that the security imperatives of Pakistan necessitated the nuclear tests in May 1998, "we are moving in the direction of a better understanding that would ultimately lead to the lifting of the sanctions in not too distant future." He said he had held meetings with Japanese Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Speaker of the Lower House and the two sides had discussed bilateral assurances that "might satisfy the Government of Japan to meet its legal requirements pertaining to the lifting of the sanctions." Sattar also stressed on the occasion the importance of bilateral relation by saying that Japan is Pakistan's biggest trade partner and "our country has since 1960s received 10 billion dollars in assistance from Japan." |
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