NEW DELHI, July 26: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar arrived here on Tuesday hoping to engage India over the Kashmir dispute and other issues, but Kashmiri representatives who met her said that ending Pakistan’s internecine strife was equally important to them.

Ms Khar will hold talks with her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna on Wednesday, hoping the two countries can “move forward” as good neighbours with a stake in each other’s future.

In a brief arrival statement, she expressed the “hope that these two countries have learnt lessons from history, but are not burdened by history and we can move forward as good, friendly neighbours who have stake in each other’s future and both the countries understand their responsibilities to the region and within the region”.

In a meeting with delegates from different Kashmiri groups fighting Indian rule in the Himalayan region, Ms Khar, at 34 the youngest foreign minister of Pakistan, met Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the 81-year-old resistance veteran.

According to sources privy to the meeting at the Pakistani High Commission, the veteran Kashmiri freedom fighter underscored the urgency to bring the rule of law and democracy in Balochistan. He told the media, after his talks with Ms Khar, of his stress on quickly ending the “fratricidal violence” in Karachi.

“It is equally urgent for Pakistan to disabuse the Taliban of their un-Islamic worldview and to stop the debilitating violence against their own people,” Mr Geelani was quoted as saying.

Ms Khar held similar talks with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other senior leaders of the Hurriyat Conference. JKLF leader Yasin Malik is on a visit to Pakistan.

No one is betting on a major breakthrough during the Khar-Krishna meeting.

Press Trust of India said a host of bilateral issues, including confidence-building measures and India’s concerns on terror, will figure in the talks whose agenda was finalised by the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan during their ‘preparatory’ meeting here on Tuesday.

India is also understood to have handed over the revised list of ‘most wanted’ fugitives to the Pakistani delegation, which carries 48 names, the news agency said.

Ahead of his meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir seemed satisfied with the progress. “I think we have every reason to be satisfied with our joint endeavours for the cause of peace and stability and for the good relations between our two countries.”

Mr Bashir said he also looked forward to a productive meeting between the two ministers. “We had a very good meeting in Islamabad last month and this in a sense has set the trend for the discussions today,” Ms Rao said.

Our reporter adds from Lahore: Before leaving for Delhi Ms Khar said Pakistan was looking forward to a “pro-active, productive and result-oriented” engagement with India on all issues, including Kashmir on which “we should not be held hostage to history”.

She said both countries have committed themselves to an “uninterrupted and uninterruptible” peace process since they began their re-engagement earlier this year.

She said all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and water, would be discussed with India.

“The talks between Pakistan and India are being held on equal footing. All longstanding issues, including Kashmir and water, will be discussed.”

She expressed the hope that the dialogue would achieve a breakthrough.

Replying to a question about inclusion of the Kashmiri leadership in the talks, the minister said: “Yes the Kashmiri leadership should be taken on board in talks on Kashmir to make the process credible and result-oriented”.

On Monday, Ms Khar had met a delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front led by its Chairman Yasin Malik and assured them that their ‘genuine’ leadership would be taken into confidence over the ongoing talks.

She said Pakistan believed in the resolution of the Kashmir issue according to the wishes of Kashmiri people. “Our stance on the Kashmir issue is quite clear to the world.”

The minister said Pakistan wanted friendly relations with its neighbours. She said both Pakistan and India wanted peace in the region for development and prosperity in their countries.

Ms Khar said terrorism was an international phenomenon. Pakistan had suffered the most for being a frontline ally in the war on terror.

Earlier, Ms Khar met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who asked her to open a sustainable, constructive dialogue process with all neighbouring countries for durable peace in the region.

The prime minister telephoned the political leadership of the country and took them into confidence on the Indo-Pak talks.

“I telephoned Nawaz Sharif, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Imran Khan, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Fata leader Munir Khan Aurakzai,” Mr Gilani told Ms Khar at the State Guest House.

The prime minister said the leaders had reposed confidence in initiation of the dialogue process with India and assured their support and cooperation in this regard.