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| 05 April 2004 | Monday | 14 Safar 1425 |
Kasuri terms talks with Mishra encouraging
NEW DELHI, April 4: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that his informal talks with India's National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra suggested that the bilateral peace process was heading for a successful outcome, India's Outlook news magazine reported on Sunday.
Significantly, Mr Kasuri also stressed to the magazine in an interview that the current tenuous thaw with India could be made irreversible only with the resolution of their major problems, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
He also hammered in the point that it was not India's prerogative to be briefed by the United States about the kind of relationship Washington wanted to have with Islamabad.
Mr Mishra had watched the India-Pakistan one-day cricket final in Lahore on March 24. "I had very pleasant conversations with him both while watching cricket and, more important, during our private dinner. I was encouraged by the contents of our conversation," said Mr Kasuri.
He said Mr Mishra had left him in "no doubt that the Indian government would take all steps necessary to bring this current peace process to its successful conclusion".
He said the challenge now was for the leaders of the two countries to behave less like politicians and more like statesmen. He said there was never a better chance to resolve the Kashmir issue than now. "The international community is completely committed.
It's also interested because both Musharraf and Vajpayee have demonstrated through their statements and actions what it takes to move away from the beaten path and towards prosperity. Earlier, this was unimaginable," he said.
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