12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 11: Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner to India Munawar Saeed has said that Pakistan is making sincere efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue with India.

Talking to Voice of America, he expressed the hope that India will show the same gesture in resolving the issue. "Relations between Pakistan and India will become friendly if the two countries succeeded in resolving the Kashmir dispute," he added.

He said that Pakistan wanted a plebiscite in Kashmir as promised by the United Nations Security Council with the Kashmiris. "The Kashmir issue is connected with the fate of the Kashmiris, so their wishes should be respected in resolving it," he added.

He said that good relations between India and Pakistan were not only in the interest of both the countries, but also the whole region. Improved ties between the two countries will help reduce their defence expenditures and the money so saved could be used for the welfare of the people, he added. -APP