24 July 2004	Saturday	06 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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NEW DELHI, July 23: India's External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said on Friday that India and Pakistan were committed to discussing and settling all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

He described the attitude of Pakistani leadership as constructive and positive. Addressing a press conference on his arrival here at Indira Gandhi International Airport from Islamabad, he said no aspect of "our relationship" was left out during his 90-minute long meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf.

The discussions were warm, frank and realistic, he added. On a question about the pace of dialogue, he said: "We want to take the peace process further but this is not a 100 metre race. It can't be artificially rushed."

Mr Singh said his visit was mainly to attend the Saarc Foreign Ministers' Conference. He said that a "really substantive meeting" would take place in New Delhi on September 5-6, when he would hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart.

Mr Singh said that he also told President Musharraf that the Simla, Lahore and Islamabad agreements would help as "links in the chain" which would go towards mutual understanding, mutual goodwill and mutually acceptable decisions on things that have bedevilled our relations for so long".

While leaving Islamabad, he said he expressed the hope that "with a renewed vigour, India and Pakistan would work to normalize relations and resolve differences." "I deeply appreciated the time and consideration showed to me and my delegation by the president," Natwar Singh said.

Mr Singh said he held meetings with President Musharraf, Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Senior Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on the sidelines of the Saarc meet.

"I mentioned our intention to carry on a sustained and steady dialogue with Pakistan," he said, referring to his meeting with President Musharraf. "We reviewed all significant aspects of our relationship. Both sides reiterated the importance of continuing the dialogue process in an atmosphere free of violence and tackling of the scourge of terrorism with renewed vigour," he said.

"I found the attitude of Pakistani leadership constructive and positive," he remarked, and went on to add: "India and Pakistan are committed to discussing and settling all bilateral issues, including that of Jammu and Kashmir to the satisfaction of both sides."

"We discussed progress on the process of composite dialogue that began in February this year. In the next three weeks there will be extensive interaction between the two countries and six meetings will be held on different subjects in the Composite Dialogue process."

After that, Mr Singh maintained, the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan will meet again on September 5 and 6 in New Delhi. During the meetings with Pakistani leadership, he observed, "we shared our perceptions on several issues and expressed satisfaction while contacts are taking place on governmental and non-governmental level between the two sides."

The minister also praised the warmth shown by the common people when he visited various places in Islamabad. He said lots of Indian books were available in book shops in Islamabad, including one written by him.

The minister also recalled his visit to Pakistan with then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in December 1988 to attend the Saarc Summit. The minister said he had a productive and useful visit to Pakistan for the Saarc meeting. The meeting has resulted in significant steps in key areas of regional cooperation.

"Our basic approach was to give Saarc greater relevance and meaning and to enable it to meet the aspirations of our peoples. As Saarc moves into its third decade, we hope to move from studies and meetings to implementation of projects," he added.

Referring to proposals made by India at the Saarc meet, he said these included setting up of a 'South Asian Parliamentary Forum' to deliberate on issues pertaining to regional cooperation endeavours.

India also offered to host the next meeting of the 'South Asia Association of Speakers and Parliamentarians' to consider the establishment of the forum. Another proposal was the establishment of a 'Saarc High Economic Council' with finance and commerce ministers of the grouping as members to promote ideas and initiatives related to regional integration in economic, trade, financial and monetary areas.

India, he said, also proposed establishing a 'Saarc Infrastructure Fund', which could have a corpus of about $10 billion, to fund major infrastructure projects in the region. -APP