No deadline for talks: Khokhar

Published April 3, 2004

SINGAPORE, April 2: President Pervez Musharraf has not set any deadline for resolving the Kashmir dispute, Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said on Friday.

Mr Khokhar, in Singapore on a visit, said that President Musharraf was deeply committed to the peace process with India.

"What the president has said is ... there should be progress on issues, including Jammu and Kashmir," Mr Khokhar said. "But he has not put a deadline on it, he has not said there should be a solution in six weeks or three weeks, he has not said anything of that nature. There is no ultimatum."

Musharraf told PTV this week that India and Pakistan must make progress on resolving differences over Kashmir within the next few months, or he would withdraw from the peace process.

Asked about the current status of the relationship between the two countries, Mr Khokhar said: "We certainly feel our relations with India are improving. There's sort of a thaw ... There is a new mood."

Ties between the two neighbours have warmed in recent weeks, especially after the start of a tour of Pakistan by India's cricket team for the first time in 14 years.

"This was not India-Pakistan; in a way cricket is winning, and it's creating a lot of goodwill," Mr Khokhar said of the cricket team's tour. "These are all very good, positive developments. But this also means that India and Pakistan should sit across the table and discuss all issues. "We should not shy away from any issue."-Agencies

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