NEW DELHI, Feb 1: Pakistan would welcome a visit by a moderate Kashmiri separatist group from the occupied valley, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Sunday.
In an interview published in the Hindustan Times, he said Islamabad would like "the Kashmiri leadership to move freely across the border". He was responding to a question that how a moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) would be received in Pakistan.
"All Kashmiris, that does not exclude the people you have mentioned, should be encouraged to move freely. Pakistani government has always welcomed that in principle," Mr Kasuri said.
Asked if he was "satisfied" with the talks between Mr Advani and the Hurriyat moderates, Mr Kasuri said: "Increased interaction between the Kashmiris and the governments of Pakistan and India would be useful."
"Kashmiris could help in bringing India and Pakistan closer if they are given a chance." The minister in his interview urged the Indian film media to be more balanced in its views on Pakistan.
"I would appeal to Indian society to discourage the Bombay film industry from making hate-Pakistan movies," he said. "They should not encourage those producers who wish to make money out of hatred ... Indian civil society should boycott these films."
Mr Kasuri's remarks came as a delegation from India's Hindi film industry based in Bombay and popularly known as Bollywood, gets ready to travel to Pakistan to discuss a range of issues including a ban on the making of movies that spread hatred between the two nations.
The delegation, comprising producer-director Rakesh Roshan and actors Jeetendra, Ranjeet, Prem Chopra and Parikshit Sahani, plans to visit Lahore during the Basant (spring) festival in March for talks with Pakistani film industry.
A spate of Hindi feature films with Pakistani characters as villains have been released in recent years, many being slammed by critics as "jingoistic". Mr Kasuri also criticized some satellite television channels for being full of hate propaganda.
India's media was independent while covering internal issues, he said, but when it came to foreign policy towards Pakistan, "they are unbelievable".
"There is no difference between the independent media's opinion and what the Indian external affairs ministry has to say." Asked when Pakistan would remove a ban imposed on Indian media and satellite channels, Mr Kasuri said the curbs would be lifted "as things begin to improve".
"Just (by) opening up channels relations will not improve," he cautioned. "The Indians will have to be objective in their analyses." -AFP