"There should be reasonable timeframe. Can you say no, it should be unreasonable?" he said when asked about the road map ahead to resolve Indo-Pak issues during an interview with Doordarshan.
Kasuri extends 'hand of friendship'
When reminded that the 1972 Simla Agreement talked about resolving the J& K issue through dialogue between the two countries, he said, "the Simla accord, while it encourages bilateral talks does not exclude the international character of Kashmir".
Describing Kashmir as a "complex" problem, he said it was, however, not intractable and given the political will could be resolved in an amicable and peaceful manner.
On apprehensions of the region becoming a nuclear flashpoint, he said "we continue to talk to each other. I think that will make sure that this doesn't happen. So let's continue to talk to each other".
Kasuri, who held two days of parleys with External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh in New Delhi, said they would be meeting again later this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session ahead of first-ever talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in New York which is likely to take place on September 22.
Powell spoke to Singh, Kasuri ahead of talks
Kasuri said he would be meeting Singh almost once a month in the remaining part of this year starting with New York, then in Dhaka for the SAARC Ministerial and Islamabad.
"This is a positive thing," he said, since at every meeting they would review progress in the composite dialogue process.
Asked about the road map for the two countries for tackling bilateral issues, he said "the road ahead is that Pakistan and India must talk to each other on all issues including Jammu and Kashmir".
India, Pak to continue ceasefire
About India's concerns on cross-border terrorism, Kasuri said Pakistan's efforts in the war on this scourge were internationally recognised. He said India felt that Pakistan was selective in this fight but stressed this was not the case.
Kasuri, who called on the Prime Minister and met other leaders, said he had got a detailed briefing from ISI before his five-day visit. The impression he got was that infiltration levels have gone down, Kasuri said adding some statements emanating from Indian leaders also spoke in the same vein.
It was acknowledged that this was partly due to efforts from the Pakistani side as also because of the fence being erected by India on its side of the border.
Observing that militancy in J&K started 18 years aback, he pointed out that Pakistan has been supporting the Kashmir cause since 1947. "Our position is known to India".
Kasuri recalled the idea mooted by Musharraf that possible solutions unacceptable to India and Pakistan should be deleted.
The Pakistan Foreign Minister, who has met several Hurriyat leaders during his visit here, contended that the Hurriyat Conference has not taken part in the J&K elections, despite the Indian government acknowledging that it was an important party and had a role in kashmir.
He emphasised that talks should be "purposeful" and not be held just for the sake of it. Rejecting the Indian contention that Pakistan was unifocal, he said "We are not unifocal. We want progress on all issues."
About the progress achieved in the just-concluded talks, he said the two sides have agreed on encouraging people-to-people contacts. Asked why the proposal to start the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service was not moving forward, he said "We wish to bring succour to the divided families. But this is not by making political statements".
Maintaining that Pakistan does not recognise Kashmir as an integral part of India, he said public opinion in that country would react negatively if it was decided to enable travel only through passports and visas. While Pakistan has been pressing for any travel document other than passports, the Indian side contends that people from PoK and J&K have been visiting each other using passports and visas.
Kasuri also denied the Pakistan opposition charge that the Government there was selling the Kashmir cause.
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