ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: The Foreign Office said on Tuesday the joint statement issued after the September 16 meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a positive development and would help the two sides move forward.

“The two leaders reaffirmed commitment to the peace process and narrowed down their differences,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told media people at a weekly briefing.

Admitting some ‘hiccups’ in the peace process, she said it had now been restored and was in the interest of both the countries. She added the foreign secretaries of both countries would meet in New Delhi to continue the composite dialogue.

The two leaders had agreed to find mutually acceptable options for a peaceful negotiated settlement of all issues between the two countries, Ms Aslam said.

She said the India-Pakistan anti-terrorism institutional mechanism to identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and conduct investigations was aimed at sharing information.

“The purpose is to help the two countries prevent acts of terrorism,” she said and added that Pakistan had such mechanism with other countries.

Answering a question, she rejected the impression that the government had changed its stance on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and said it believed status quo was not a solution, and a solution must be acceptable to the Kashmiris.

About the forthcoming meeting of President Musharraf with President George Bush, she said the two leaders would review the whole gamut of Pakistan-US relations. She said during President Bush’ visit to Pakistan, the US entered into a strategic dialogue and a number of working groups were established.

The two leaders would review the progress and the question of how to proceed further on bilateral, regional and other issues, she said, adding the situation in Afghanistan, Middle East and Pakistan-India peace process would be discussed by the two presidents.

When asked about the visit of the NWFP governor to the United States, she said possibly he would brief the US authorities about recent peace agreement with the tribesmen in North Waziristan and the reconstruction zones in the tribal area.

Answering a question, she said the agreement could serve as a model for the Afghan government, however, she added it would be their sovereign decision and it was not for Pakistan to tell them what to do.

About Pakistan’s aspirants for the post of UN secretary-general, Ms Aslam said no decision had yet been taken in this regard as there was enough time to decide.

Regarding the remarks of Pope Benedict, the spokesperson said Pakistan had noted his expression of regret. However, she said, the remarks demonstrated insensitivity towards 1.3 billion Muslims. —APP