ISLAMABAD, July 23: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri has expressed hope that India-Pakistan composite dialogue will soon be back on track and stressed that it is in the interest of both the countries as well as the region to carry forward the peace process.

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, Mr Kasuri said the two and half year peace process had built great hopes and expectations in both the countries and it was the responsibility of their leaders not to let the people down.

“A lot of hard work has been done by both sides and let us not throw it away. Let us take it forward,” was his message to the Indian side.

Mr Kasuri emphasised that Pakistan was a more confident country today from the conventional defence standpoint and had also achieved the credible minimum deterrence.

He underscored that it was not out of weakness but responsibility that Pakistan had taken the lead in peace initiatives and asserted: “The international community respects Pakistan.”

When asked about his statement during interview with an Indian news channel suggesting that Pakistan had received from New Delhi written proposals on Kashmir just ahead of the Mumbai blasts, Mr Kasuri indicated that they were in the form of a ‘non-paper’.

He was of the view that importance of the proposals should neither be exaggerated nor understated. He saw it as a promising sign but cautioned against creating hype about it.

Asked if the proposals also pertained to the Siachen issue, he said: “We were discussing that also.”

On whether the Indian proposals on Kashmir were anywhere close to President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s ideas of self-governance and joint management, he said there were differences and the two sides had been working on narrowing them down before the Mumbai blasts.

“We were discussing these proposals before the Mumbai blasts and it needs a lot of hard work,” he said, adding: “It is not an easy situation, it is a complex issue and both sides have to work collectively.” Mr Kasuri said Pakistan also had the extra responsibility of safeguarding the Kashmiri interests.

Mr Kasuri was cautiously optimistic about early resumption of discussions on the proposals that had been put on hold after New Delhi pulled out of the foreign secretary-level talks.

He hoped that the opportunity provided by the Saarc standing committee meeting in Dhaka later this month would be used by foreign secretaries of the two countries.

“I hope they will have a good meeting that takes the peace process forward,” he said.