ISLAMABAD, July 10: Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri on Thursday hoped that the holding of SAARC meeting in Islamabad early next year would help create an atmosphere for the initiation of a dialogue process between Pakistan and India.

“Bilateral talks or disputes are not discussed at the SAARC, but the very fact that the SAARC meeting is being held will help in reducing temperature in the South Asian region,” he said in his comments on the decision to hold the next summit of the seven-nation grouping in Islamabad.

He said the meeting will help in “creating the right atmosphere for the initiation of a composite dialogue process that the two countries were currently interested in holding”.

Mr Kasuri described the decision as a victory for the Pakistani diplomacy as Islamabad was trying to hold this meeting for a long time.

He said regional groupings in recent years had been a big success, and cited the European Union, the ASEAN and other regional blocs as examples.

The minister said the reason why the SAARC process did not take off was the continued tension between Pakistan and India. “I think it is in the interest of South Asia that the SAARC process takes off,” he added. —APP