India and Pakistan will have to show flexibility, says Kasuri

Staff Report

LAHORE: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri said on Saturday that a composite dialogue was necessary and India and Pakistan need to move from their stated positions to resolve the Kashmir issue for peace in South Asia.

“We will welcome all such moves, but India will also have to show flexibility,” Mr Kasuri told reporters after addressing a conference arranged by the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association here.

He said both countries stances were known to all.

He said Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers would discuss all issues including Kashmir in the talks expected to be held in July-August after the foreign secretaries meet.

The foreign minister said that the inclusion of Kashmiris in the composite dialogue was necessary. “The only solution that should be implemented is one that is acceptable to Kashmiris.”

He said Pakistan wanted broad-based relations with India.

Mr Kasuri denied that the president or prime minister was invited to visit India. “There is no specific invitation, but such invitations should be part of goodwill gestures,” he said. Mr Kasuri said the Kashmir bus service talks had not been suspended, but postponed, adding that the issue would soon be discussed at length. He said that Pakistan had not requested to be readmitted to the Commonwealth.

“The Commonwealth and Pakistan are equally important for each other. This is two-way traffic,” he added. Mr Kasuri said that the Wana operation was part of an international policy to fight terrorism, adding that the Interior Ministry would decide whether the operation would continue or not. He said Pakistan was part of an international anti-terrorism alliance.

He said sending troops to Iraq had not yet been decided. “We will not send troops on our own, it is up to the United Nations to decide,” he said. He said the prime minister’s visit to China would improve bilateral relations. He didn’t elaborate on the agenda of talks with China.

He refused to comment on American reaction to the sentence to Alliance for the Restoration for Democracy President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, saying that the Foreign Office had responded.

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