ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: Pakistan will continue its policy of exercising maximum restraint along the Line of Control and the working boundary, a foreign office spokesman said on Wednesday.

The situation at the LoC and the working boundary, where there had been exchange of fire early this week, had remained calm during the last twenty-four hours, FO spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan said at the daily briefing.

Refuting reports of heavy shelling and exchange of fire in Akhnor sector emanating from New Delhi, he said India might have wanted to cover the embarrassment suffered by it following movement of troops close to the LoC and the working boundary.

On a question, he said the US Secretary of State Colin Powell carried the message to India that Kashmir issue was central to the relations between the two countries and it should be resolved through dialogue.

The United States, he added, wanted a reduction in South Asia’s tensions. Pakistan, he reiterated, also wanted the same and a resumption of dialogue between the two countries. He also referred to the recent telephone calls made by Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar to his Indian counterpart and President Musharraf to Prime Minister Vajpayee.

“It does not just depend on Pakistan but on India as well,” he said and hoped that New Delhi would sooner than later agree to the resumption of dialogue to address the issue of Kashmir so that the two countries can have a tension-free relationship with each other in the interest of the two nations and the region.

When his attention was drawn towards a recent statement of Indian Foreign Minister asking Pakistan to hand over, what he called terrorist to New Delhi, he said, it was not based on facts. “It is the part of incessant Indian propaganda campaign to malign Pakistan,” he added.

Pakistan, he said, had always condemned terrorism and had been extending full cooperation to the international community in its fight against terrorism.

He recalled that Pakistan in the past had handed over a number of terrorists required by the United States and various governments in the Middle East.

He refuted allegations that Pakistan had been training terrorists and exporting them to occupied Kashmir. “No terrorists are being poured into Indian held Kashmir,” he added.

The expanding graveyards in Occupied Kashmir bore testimony to the indigenous character of the freedom struggle being waged by the Kashmiri people, he said.

He pointed out that more than 80,000 Kashmiris had been martyred in the struggle over the last one decade. He said that over 7,00,000 Indian security forces were deployed in Kashmir which was the highest concentration of the forces in any area in the world.

The spokesman wondered as to why the Indian government was not allowing international media and human rights groups to visit Occupied Kashmir and see for themselves the atrocities being perpetrated on the innocent people.

On a question about the financial aid, he denied that there had been any deal. He noted with satisfaction that the US congress had already authorised the American President to grant democratic and other sanctions’ waiver to Pakistan.

He said with the lifting of sanctions normal economic, trade and commerce relations would be fully restored between the two countries.

Regarding reports of US plans to wage a protracted war against terrorism, he said, the war against terrorism would certainly be a prolonged one but the military operations in Afghanistan would be short.

He said Mr Powell had also stated that they did not intend to prolong the operation beyond the achievement of military objective.

Regarding the relief supplies to the Afghanistan, he said, there had been a steady flow of relief supplies to the war-torn country through Pakistan. He said some remote areas of Afghanistan could be accessed through other neighbouring countries.