Aso vows to continue refueling mission in meeting with Pakistani PM

BEIJING, Oct. 25 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, meeting Saturday with Pakistani Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, vowed to do his utmost to continue Japan's
antiterrorism refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, a Japanese official said.
The Pakistani prime minister expressed appreciation for Japan's refueling
support and told Aso he hopes Japan will continue the mission, the official
said. Both Aso and Gillani attended the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting summit held
in Beijing through Saturday.
A bill to extend Japan's mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism
operations in and near Afghanistan through to the next year beyond the expiry
of the current mission on Jan. 15 is being deliberated in the Diet.
Gillani said Pakistan will cooperate with other countries to continue its fight
against terrorism, and Aso expressed Japan's support for the country, saying it
is important to help developing countries amid the severe global economic
situation, the official said.
Aso told Gillani that Pakistan, which has sought help from the International
Monetary Fund to prevent its economy from collapsing under the pressure of high
fuel and food prices, should work in close contact with the IMF, the official
said.
In the working lunch session of Saturday's ASEM meeting, Aso pledged to support
Afghanistan. He said Pakistan has a significant role to play in bringing
stability to Afghanistan, another Japanese government official said.
Aso also sought other ASEM members' support for efforts at the six-party talks
to denuclearize North Korea as well as Japan's efforts to resolve Pyongyang's
abductions of Japanese nationals, the official said.
Following the ASEM summit, Aso told a news conference that the main issue
discussed in the meeting was international finance, saying, ''In-depth
discussions were held on the effects (of the financial crisis) on Asian and
European economies.''
''Though I thought it would be a bit difficult to seek coordinated action, I
think we managed to produce a fairly unified outcome as everyone seemed to have
shared the perception that the financial crisis is serious,'' Aso said,
referring to a statement which was released following a session on the global
economy.
In a bilateral meeting between Aso and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose
country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, Sarkozy said he
wants to take up stronger regulation and monitoring of financial institutions
at the Group of 20 meeting on the global financial crisis to be hosted by
Washington on Nov. 15, the officials said.
Aso said he agrees with the idea of monitoring financial institutions as long
as it does not ruin free market mechanisms and is transparent, they said.
Aso also met Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and agreed to cooperate
toward the summit meeting in Washington.
On Friday, Aso held bilateral talks with South Korean, Chinese and German
leaders and agreed to collaborate to tackle the financial crisis ahead of next
month's summit.
During an ASEM session on sustainable development, Aso also announced Japan
will contribute to the stockpiling of vaccines for new types of influenza for
500,000 people within the ASEM region, mainly in India, Pakistan and China.
The move follows Japan's offer announced last year to stockpile the vaccines
for 500,000 people in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region,
according to a Japanese government official who briefed reporters on the
session.
==Kyodo