India can do business with Musharraf: PM

'Encouraged' by his meeting with Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf in New York, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said, "I believe in General Musharraf we have a person with whom we can do business."

Singh, who met Musharraf on September 24 and termed it as 'new beginning' and a 'historic day', recalled that before he had embarked on this trip, he had said that his meeting with Musharraf would be an essay in mutual comprehension.

"I found the best way to size up for him to form an opinion of me and for me to get something of his personality was to meet one to one," Singh said.

Both leaders had reiterated their commitment to continue the bilateral dialogue process to restore normalcy and cooperation between the two countries.

They had agreed that Confidence Building Measures (CBM) of all categories under discussion between the two countries should be implemented keeping in mind practical possibilities.

For the first time, the two leaders agreed to 'explore' all possible options for a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue.

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While there was no direct mention of terrorism in the joint statement issued after their meeting, there was a reference to the January 6, 2004 document issued in Islamabad, in which Pakistan had assured that territory under its control would not be allowed to be used for acts of terrorism against India.

The January 6 joint statement was issued after a meeting between the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Musharraf in Islamabad during the SAARC summit.

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Singh, during his one-to-one meeting with Musharraf, put across that meaningful progress can be made on the composite dialogue process only if Pakistan firmly controlled terror acts emanating from its soil.

Both the leaders lay special emphasis on generating an atmosphere of 'trust and mutual understanding' for carrying forward the talks.