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| 25 July 2004 | Sunday | 07 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
New Delhi disappointed at call for timeframe
NEW DELHI, July 24: India expressed disappointment on Saturday with a Pakistani statement attaching importance to a time-frame for settling the Kashmir dispute, following the first meeting between President Musharraf and India's foreign minister.
President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh had met in Musharraf's Army House residence in Rawalpindi on Friday to discuss improving bilateral ties and the Kashmir dispute.
Before departing for New Delhi, Singh described the attitude of Pakistani leaders as "constructive and positive" after the talks.
However, responding to a Pakistani foreign ministry statement quoting Musharraf as saying it was "important" to address the Kashmir dispute within a "reasonable time-frame", India on Saturday said it was "disappointed at the tone and substance of some of the comments made".
"The press release does not reflect the comprehensiveness of the discussions (between Musharraf and Singh)," the Press Trust of India quoted foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna as saying.
Another official said that a final solution to the Kashmir dispute could not be rushed through.
"A complex problem like Kashmir that has eluded solution for 56 years, how can you put a time-frame and say we will solve it in three days, or three months or three years?" the official said.-AFP
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