ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday said that Pakistan attached great importance to composite dialogue with India for the resolution of all outstanding issues , including Jammu and Kashmir, and was committed to making it 'more substantive and purposeful'.
In his reply to a message of felicitations sent by his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, Mr Aziz said he was looking forward to working with Mr Singh closely to build friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.
Mr Aziz said: "Excellency, I wish to thank you for your letter of felicitations on my assuming the office of the prime minister of Pakistan. "I reciprocate your kind sentiments and look forward to working with you closely to build friendly and co-operative relations between our two countries.
In this context, we attach great importance to the ongoing composite dialogue process for the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. We are sincerely committed to making this process more substantive and purposeful. "Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration," he said.
FO BRIEFING: Meanwhile, the foreign office said on Monday that Kashmir issue would definitely be discussed at the meeting to be held in New Delhi on Sept 5-6 between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
Spokesman Masood Khan told his weekly press briefing that the two foreign ministers would also review the progress achieved by their officials in meetings held to discuss seven other items on the agenda, including the issues of peace and security.
Before the ministers' talks, he said, the foreign secretaries of the two countries would hold their fourth meeting on Sept 4. The two sides have already held a series of meetings on the eight-point agenda during this summer.
Mr Khan said the talks held so far had witnessed cooperation but cautioned that because the assignment before the two sides was "challenging and difficult, (therefore) we should build our expectations with realism".
The foreign ministers would determine the prospects of progress in the light of discussions held in the first phase of their meeting in February. The spokesman made it clear that there could be no dialogue or engagement between Pakistan and India without taking up the Kashmir issue.
"We cannot banish Kashmir from the India-Pakistan discourse since it is an essential part of our dialogue," he emphasized and said: "In fact, talks without Kashmir would be (like) the Himalaya mountains without the Mount Everest or Srinagar without Dal Lake".
He expressed the hope that India would pursue the talks. Rejecting any claim questioning the status of the Kashmir dispute, he said that apart from its bilateral nature the issue had been recognized over the past more than five decades and discussed at international levels, including the United Nations.
A number of resolutions had been adopted at the UN to settle the dispute by ascertaining the will and aspirations of the people of Kashmir through a UN-sponsored plebiscite, he added.
He emphasized that even after such a long period the international community remained concerned over the Kashmir issue and called for an early end to the agonizing state of the Kashmiri people.
In reply to questions, the spokesman said that while Pakistan remained firmly engaged in the fight against terrorism it did not regard that the 'Taliban and terrorists are synonymous' terms. Most of the Taliban, he pointed out, were pupils studying in seminaries.
Pakistan, he explained, had a uniform policy in fighting terrorism whether it was by terrorists from Al Qaeda or Taliban or Pakistanis or of any other description.
The spokesman said that Pakistan was keen to strengthen ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council as part of its policy to develop close relations with other international economic blocs such as the Asean Regional Forum, Asian Cooperation for Development (ACD), Saarc, etc., as they were the building-blocks in the new economic order. He said that on President Pervez Musharraf's initiative Islamabad had already offered to hold the next session of the ACD.
APP ADDS: The spokesman expressed anguish and grief over the bomb attacks in Afghanistan on Sunday which had killed many people. Answering a question, he said there were some 400 Pakistanis working in Iraq. He said Pakistani embassies in Iraq and Kuwait had offered to facilitate those who would like to return.