NEW DELHI, May 22: India denied on Thursday that it was being pressured by the United States to launch a peace initiative with Pakistan.

Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal told the Star News television channel in an interview that far from pressuring India, Washington expressed surprised by the “hand of friendship” extended by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Islamabad last month.

“If the US and other nations point out to us that the situation in the region is grim since both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and appeal to us to resume dialogue, this should not be misconstrued as pressure,” said Sibal, head of foreign office.

The official also ruled out accepting the Line of Control (LoC) as the international border between the two countries.

“There is a unanimous resolution passed by parliament which says the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. When there is a discussion on Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, we will certainly talk about the status of Pakistan-administered Kashmir ...that chapter is not closed,” Sibal said.

He added that India had taken the initiative for normalization of relations with Pakistan. “The ball is now in Pakistan’s court...we can begin the official level dialogue if Pakistan starts the process of checking infiltration and dismantling the ‘terrorist’ infrastructure.”

India, he said, would adopt a step-by-step approach to resuming dialogue with the neighbouring country. The talks would first be held at the official level, followed by the foreign secretary level and then the political level.

Therefore, there was no possibility of any summit level meeting with Pakistan “in the next few weeks”, he said.—dpa