ISLAMABAD, July 15: Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali asked for patience on Tuesday as he and his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee walk a tightrope towards peace in South Asia.

In an interview to Reuters Mr Jamali said he supported the idea of a step-by-step approach to rebuild confidence between Pakistan and India as long as their dispute over the Kashmir valley was not forgotten.

“For Pakistan it is very difficult to give up the original principle, the Kashmir issue, but we have to pave a way to come to the core issue,” the prime minister said.

Mr Jamali rejected concerns the peace process might be stalling and said he hoped to meet Mr Vajpayee face-to-face at a South Asian summit in Islamabad in January, if not before.

“Here in the subcontinent, people are very impatient, they want things to be done today, just now and in front of them, which isn’t possible,” he said.

“In politics, it is tightrope walking, especially in such conditions, on such issues, in the countries that we are.”

Mr Jamali may already have struck up a better chemistry with the poet Vajpayee than Gen Musharraf ever achieved. He phoned the Indian leader in April to invite him to Pakistan, and said he was impressed by Mr Vajpayee’s commitment to peace.

“That is why I feel confident,” Mr Jamali said. “He has to man his own hawks and we have to look towards our own people here... (but) I am sure he is trying his best.”

Mr Jamali reiterated he was willing to travel to India to meet Mr Vajpayee, if the latter was uncomfortable about coming to Islamabad.

“If Mr Vajpayee agrees, I can just take the plane and fly off to New Delhi,” he said.

AFGHANISTAN: Speaking about situation on Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Mr Jamali denied that any incursions had taken place.