Kasuri said there is no possibility of a sudden announcement of any solution to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. "Our Constitution too provides that any solution to this issue is to be made in accordance with the wishes of the people of the region, who are the actual party in this conflict," he said.
The final decision on Kashmir would be taken by the Parliament, he said, adding that there was no concrete step on the issue yet and only ideas were being floated for brainstorming on both sides of border.
The foreign minister, however, maintained that there were some hurdles in the way of settlement of the Siachen and Sir Creek issues. He was referring to the ongoing talks between Pakistan and India on these issues.
A political will was needed to reach final agreement on these issues, he said. On the Iran, Pakistan, India gas pipeline, Kasuri said he made it clear to the Iranian leadership during his Tehran visit that they needed to fix some benchmark on the pricing. An international consultant had made his recommendations in this regard but the pricing issue needs to be taken into consideration by the three sides again, he said.
"I conveyed to the Iranian President, as per the desire of President General Pervez Musharraf, that it is the prime time for the leadership of either side to demonstrate a political will for an early realisation of this proposed project, which is also known as pipeline of peace," Kasuri said.
On the situation in Afghanistan, he said it has been a reason for concern for Kabul as well as Islamabad for long. There was a civil war-like situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan had both opponents and friends in the war-torn country, he said. However, there might be some elements in Pakistan, who in their individual capacity, were supporting Taliban but none of them was part of policy making in Pakistan, Kasuri said.
During his visit to Iran, the Pakistani minister appraised Iranian leaders about what Pakistan "...have been doing for the restoration of peace in Afghanistan."
"I am glad that now Iranians better understand our position on this issue," he said. Asserting that Islamabad had no role in the deterioration of law and order in Afghanistan, Kasuri said maintaining peace in that country was the sole responsibility of the Afghan Army and NATO forces.
"It was unfortunate that some elements were blaming Pakistan for the deteriorating law and order in Afghanistan," he said. Rejecting the theory that Pakistan changed its Afghan policy owing to pressure from the US, the foreign minister made it clear that Islamabad did so after the 9/11 terror attacks, acting in its best national interest. About meeting between Pakistani and Israeli officials, Kasuri said Pakistan have had secret contacts with Israel for decades.
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