NEW DELHI, May 31: India urged Pakistan on Monday to avoid controversy ahead of a meeting of their foreign secretaries this month. It also denied that its new government was stressing the Simla Agreement as the basis of future talks to the exclusion of other subsequent agreements with Islamabad.

In an unusual response to comments from Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Shashank issued a statement to apparently clarify to Islamabad the spirit of the remarks made by Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh in Jaipur last week.

Mr Shashank said India was 'somewhat surprised' at the reactions in Pakistan to some of the recent articulations by Mr Natwar Singh "of consistent policies of the government of India, the policies that have been followed over decades and despite several changes in the government".

He said: "The Simla Agreement provides the framework for our relations, and commitment both to dialogue for resolving differences and not to take any unilateral actions."

"Mr Natwar Singh, on all occasions, clearly said that we will abide by the framework of the Simla Agreement, all subsequent agreements and declarations and the Jan 6 joint press statement, when the prime minister of India had visited Islamabad, and after his meeting with the president of Pakistan," the statement said.

"This fact seems to have been deliberately ignored. Suggestions or inferences that there are differences in intent between these documents, and that some of them would not be given due significance, are obviously erroneous," Mr Shashank said.

He said: "We have clearly laid out a framework for the composite dialogue in the coming months. That process would provide us the opportunity to discuss all these issues and any unnecessary apprehensions in detail. Till then it would perhaps be better to avoid any uncalled for controversy in or through the media."