LAHORE, April 27: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has vehemently refuted India’s allegation of any infiltration into occupied Kashmir from Pakistan.

He was talking to reporters after visiting the Madar-i-Millat women’s handicrafts exhibition here on Sunday.

He said that Pakistan had suggested a geometrical monitoring of the Line of Control in Kashmir under the supervision of the foreign experts from a number of countries which included the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Let there be a joint monitoring by the foreign experts from these neutral countries to see whether any infiltration was taking place from Pakistan. He said that Pakistan had given the new monitoring proposal after India had rejected the previous proposals for joint monitoring by the experts of Pakistan and India, by the US and Indian experts and then by the UN experts. He asked what could be the objective test of checking the allegation of cross-border infiltration after India’s rejection of various proposals put forward by Pakistan.

The foreign minister while welcoming the Indian prime minister’s offer for talks with Pakistan expressed his wonder at what he called irresponsible statements issued by members of his cabinet against Pakistan. He said that Pakistan wanted to hold talks with India with an open heart on all issues between the two countries, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian ministers should not vitiate the atmosphere. He asked the Indian ministers to refrain from issuing the statements against Pakistan. He said that the charges of infiltration against Pakistan were similar to the allegation that sectarian riots in Pakistan between Shia and Sunni sects had been engineered by the Indian intelligence agency —- RAW and Indian leaders’ allegation that the ISI of Pakistan was responsible for various acts of disturbance in India. He urged the Indian leaders to change their attitude and stop issuing statements levelling baseless charges of infiltration against Pakistan.

Replying to a question, the minister said that US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s statement that infiltration from Pakistan had not stopped but substantially reduced was aimed at bringing both Pakistan and India to a negotiation table to sort out their differences and find out ways and means to solve their disputes. He said that Mr Colin Powell had also made it clear to India that the situation in Iraq was not parallel to the one in Kashmir and refuted the Indian leaders’ statements calling for a military action against Pakistan to stop the alleged infiltration like the military action against Iraq. He said that Indian newspapers were biased in reporting.

Referring to the Indian prime minister’s offer for talks, he said that Pakistan had already welcomed the offer. It had become clear that there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue which should be settled peacefully through talks. It was in the interest of both the countries that talks should be held as early as possible.

Replying to a question, the foreign minister said that Pakistan’s foreign policy was mature and successful as it had been proved by a series of events like the US refusal to the demand of the Indian leaders to take action against Pakistan like its action against Iraq. He said that the US refutation of the Indian leaders demand had amply proved the fact that the situation in Kashmir was not parallel to that of Iraq. He said that relations with Russia had improved, particularly after the recent visit of President Pervez Musharraf to that country. He said that he had received three telephonic calls from the Russian foreign minister during the past fortnight to discuss some important matters. Such a thing had not happened during the past two years. Similarly the relations with France, Germany and other European countries were improving, he added.

As regards the scheduled UN inspection of chemical weapons in Pakistan, he said that it was a routine check-up. There is no cause of worry as we have never manufactured chemical or biological weapons nor do we possess them. It was India which was producing them. He said that both Pakistan and India were the signatories to the anti-chemical weapons convention. As many as 150 countries had signed the convention.