ISLAMABAD: Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said that achieving success in efforts for resolving bilateral issues with Pakistan is “a time taking affair”.

Addressing a ceremony in the Indian city of Ghaziabad on Sunday, Mr Khurshid said he would not be able to give a timeframe as to when official talks between the two nations could take place, The Indian Express reported, quoting Press Trust of India.

“Success (in issues related to India and Pakistan) is not achieved in a day or a moment. First the foundation is made and then we subsequently go ahead to create an edifice,” he added.

The minister was asked if there was any progress in bilateral issues after he met Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in Jaipur on Saturday.

The Pakistani leader’s visit, he explained, was “not an official” trip and it was a courtesy extended by the Indian government when Prime Minister Ashraf desired to visit the Ajmer shrine along with his family.

“It is courtesy that one is allowed to go to his place of prayer for the peace of the soul and mind...Similarly when people from India want to visit a gurudwara for pilgrimage in Pakistan that is a courtesy,” Mr Khurshid said.

During his daylong visit to India on Saturday, Prime Minister Ashraf offered prayers at the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.—APP