WASHINGTON, June 9: Foreign Minister Khrushid Kasuri said on Thursday that Pakistan was willing to show flexibility on Kashmir but India should also make an effort to resolve the dispute.
Speaking to members of the United States Congress, Mr Kasuri said President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had developed a good understanding since they met in New York last year but this “good chemistry is not enough to resolve the Kashmir dispute. It also requires some courage.”
The foreign minister, whose official engagements on the first day of his visit were delayed because of a fire scare at the House Rayburn Building, urged Congress members to use their influence to encourage investment in Pakistan. “We need trade more than we need aid because trade creates jobs and brings prosperity,” he said.
He noted that this week Pakistan had three major visits from India –- of opposition leader L.K. Advani, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and the Indian oil minister. “This is not a small development. It shows a change of environment and I believe now is the time to move to conflict resolution,” he said.
Mr Kasuri told members of the Pakistan caucus on the Capitol Hill that Islamabad had proposed a strategic restraint regime to New Delhi. The proposed regime calls for a reduction in nuclear and conventional weapons and encourages the two countries to resolve their disputes through negotiations.
Congressman Dan Burton, the Republican co-chair of the caucus, urged US lawmakers to draft a letter supporting the proposed regime and send it to the Pakistani and Indian governments.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the Democratic co-chair of the caucus, noted that the dialogue between Pakistan and India had generated into a unique peace agreement, opening up new venues of communication and cooperation between the two neighbours.
Mr Kasuri said President Musharraf had launched a major offensive to reorganize the Organization of Islamic Conference. The OIC, he said, was holding an extraordinary meeting in Makkah soon to consider proposals for giving a new direction to the organization.
Pakistan, Mr Kasuri said, did not believe that Muslim and Western civilizations were moving towards a clash and “even if they were, we must do whatever we can to prevent this clash.”
The foreign minister said Pakistan’s economy was growing at a remarkable speed and was now the second fastest in the world after China.
