ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Saturday said Pakistan and India needed to demonstrate stronger will and passion to solve the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir as the resolution of the issue was critical for sustainable peace in the region.

The prime minister was talking to Vijayendar Nath Kaul, auditor-general of India called on him at the Prime Minister House here. He was accompanied by Indian High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon.

Mr Aziz said Pakistan is working for peace in the region and the current dialogue process with India and the resultant confidence-building measures had helped improve the atmosphere. He said that a congenial atmosphere for addressing the substantive issues has been created.

“Both countries need to address the issue with an open mind and take bold decisions to solve the Kashmir issue. The true potential of South Asia can only be leveraged after the resolution of this issue,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister also talked about the critical role played by accounting and auditing systems in ensuring good governance and steps taken by Pakistan for better financial management.

He said that a good accounting system ensured transparency and corporate governance and the government had taken a number of steps to modernize auditing and accounting systems in line with international standards and internationally accepted best practices in government accounting were being adopted. He said Pakistan was in the midst of the process.

Referring to the role played by the Public Accounts Committee in improving the system, the prime minister said that PAC was actively engaged in auditing government departments in consultation with the ministries.—APP