Pak will welcome resumption of Composite Dialogue: FO

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Feb 4 (PTI) Pakistan Thursday said it would
welcome any move to resume the composite dialogue process with
India stalled since the Mumbai attacks, but insisted that the
talks should be "result-oriented" and cover all outstanding
issues, including Kashmir and sharing of river waters.
"Pakistan will welcome the resumption of the composite
dialogue because we are for a meaningful engagement with
India," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a weekly
news briefing, responding to a question on whether the two
countries are on the verge of reviving their peace process.
"From our perspective, talks should be all-encompassing
and result-oriented. We will, therefore, welcome the
resumption of the composite dialogue," he said.
Basit noted that the Prime Ministers of the two countries
had agreed during their meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh last year
that dialogue is the only way forward.
"Pakistan has always believed that it is only through
genuine and meaningful talks that Pakistan and India can
resolve their bilateral disputes, including the long-simmering
Jammu and Kashmir dispute and water issues," he said in
response to another question.
Basit said "some proposals" for the revival of the peace
process were being considered but refused to give details. He
also did not say which country had mooted these proposals.

The spokesman's comments came in the wake of reports that
India was considering some form of "measured contacts" with
Pakistan.
The reports have not been favourably received by
Pakistan's Foreign Office, which is for full resumption of the
composite dialogue.
Home Minister P Chidambaram is expected to travel to
Pakistan for a SAARC meeting during February 26-27, the
highest official Indian visit to the neighbouring country
after the Mumbai attacks of November 2008.
Since the 26/11 strikes, leaders of the two sides have
only met on the sidelines of several multilateral fora and
India has linked the resumption of the peace process to
Pakistan taking action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai
attacks.
In response to a question on the Kashmir issue, Basit
stated the Foreign Office's position that Pakistan will
continue to support the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their
"legitimate struggle to get the right to self-determination."
Pakistan also believes that "if India dispenses with its
traditional inflexibility on (the Kashmir issue), there is a
possibility of moving ahead and resolving this issue in
accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people," Basit
said.
In response to another question on whether the four
rounds of the composite dialogue were a failure, Basit said
the process had "been successful in generating required
momentum" and the two countries had agreed on several
confidence-building measures on Kashmir.
He did not agree with the contention that the composite
dialogue had "not been able to achieve anything concrete"
though both sides were "still far off from the final
resolution" of the Kashmir issue.
Whenever the dialogue process is resumed, Pakistan will
start discussing the Kashmir problem and differences over the
sharing of river waters, which Basit described as a "serious
issue."
Pakistan is considering the "implications of the
breach of the Indus Waters Treaty by India" and authorities
were weighing all options before Islamabad proceeds in
accordance with national interests, he said.
Asked if India has shared any information with Pakistan
on the involvement of Indian nationals in the Mumbai attacks,
Basit said: "No." PTI RHL
DDC