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| 20 February 2004 | Friday | 28 Zilhaj 1424 |
Islamabad, New Delhi satisfied over talks
ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha on Thursday expressed satisfaction over the outcome of bilateral talks that were held in Islamabad from Feb 16 to 18.
Mr Kasuri told BBC that discussions remained "very positive" and "there could not have been a better start" to them. Speaking in 'HARDtalk Pakistan' programme, he said Pakistan had raised the issue of human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
Asked if Pakistan had raised the issue of five civilians killed recently in Bandipora, the foreign minister said: "Many incidents have happened, not just one. And we made the general point that our peace process will be helped if there are no human rights violations in Kashmir."
Answering a question whether Pakistan still considered the UN resolutions on Kashmir applicable, he said: "Of course that is the stated position. But President (Pervez) Musharraf said that if there is flexibility on the other side, we are prepared to show comparable flexibility. There has to be mutual flexibility."
Mr Kasuri explained that "the flexibility is about the mechanism in the UN Security Council resolution, not about disregarding the aspirations of the people of Kashmir."
It was suggested to the foreign minister that there might be a new government in India after the forthcoming elections and therefore, the present administration could not commit to anything until the results were known.
"It doesn't matter who you have to talk to in India. I'm not going to interfere in India's internal politics. We will deal with it as if the BJP is in power," Mr Kasuri was quoted by a BBC press release.
YASHWANT SINHA: Talking to BBC separately, Mr Sinha said the latest effort to improve relations between India and Pakistan had moved ahead in a satisfactory manner.
He said following successful talks between officials, the foreign ministers of the two countries would meet and added that the Monabao-Khokhrapar and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would be discussed in March. -APP
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