NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Wednesday expressed optimism about the possibility of top- level talks between India and Pakistan on the margins of the Islamabad Saarc summit.

Referring to the present geo-political situation, Mr Rashid said if Mr Vajpayee came to attend the Saarc meeting, he “will have to talk to our leaders, particularly when India is as close to the United States as Pakistan.”

In an exclusive interview, carried by Indian daily “The Asian Age,” the minister said: “If you talk about Kargil, I will talk about Siachen,” adding “Pakistan is always on the defensive, India is always aggressive.”

About the possibility of holding of a dialogue, the minister said peace talks were moving very slowly, and that talks were necessary to expedite the process. Both sides, he added, were caught in a “web of distrust and suspicion,” and that it was important to have a “sincere, futuristic dialogue” to clear the air between the two countries and move towards peace and normality, he added.

India, he said, had forced Pakistan to go nuclear, adding that the 1998 Pokhran nuclear explosions had “forced us to respond out of fear and apprehension.”

Mr Rashid called for hammering out a system to open up the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar route under UN monitoring.

He said that the Line of Control was not a permanent border, and both India and Pakistan would have to work out a system with UN guarantees, replacing visas and passports for travel between the two sides.—APP