ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: Finance Minister of Afghan Interim government Hidayat Amin Arsla has called upon India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue to ensure peace in the region.

“This region needs peace to have greater political and economic cooperation which is not possible if there is tension between India and Pakistan,” he observed.

Speaking at a joint news conference along with Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Tuesday, he said the problem of Kashmir should be resolved keeping in view the will and wishes of the Kashmiri people.

He agreed with a reporter that his country enjoyed good relations with India and as such he could use certain influence on Indian leaders to resolve outstanding issues between the two countries. “We would very much like to encourage the Indian leaders to settle disputes with Pakistan peacefully by sitting across the table,” he added.

Mr Arsla pointed out that there was an enormous potential in the region to grow economically, but if relations between India and Pakistan remained strained, there could be no progress.

He admitted that there had been some infighting in Afghanistan and said things were, however, improving as his interim government was meeting all the people concerned to ensure peace.

Mr Arsla ruled out the possibility of asking the international forces to leave Afghanistan. “We cannot afford to ask the international peace keeping forces to go from Afghanistan as decades of infighting has created so much problems that it is necessary to have the presence of international forces there.”