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Wednesday, Sep 01, 2004

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International - India & World

India's concerns conveyed to Pakistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 31 . India's High Commissioner in Pakistan, Shiv Shankar Menon, today called on the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Riaz Khokhar, and exchanged views on the dialogue scheduled between the two Foreign Ministers in New Delhi on September 5 and 6.

Pakistan is peeved over what it believes are "hostile statements" by Indian leaders days before the Foreign Ministers are to meet to take stock of the outcome of the first round of the composite dialogue.

India believes that Pakistan's "obsession" with Kashmir to the exclusion of all other issues for the normalisation of ties between the two sides does not augur well. This was evident from the candid comments made by the National Security Adviser, J.N. Dixit, in New Delhi today.

It is in this context that the meeting between Mr. Menon and the Mr. Khokhar assumes significance. According to Pakistan Foreign Office officials, Mr. Khokhar did raise the issue of "hostile statements" by Indian leaders. Mr. Menon is believed to have conveyed to him India's concerns and emphasised the need for movement on various fronts without getting stuck on Kashmir.

In a related development, the new Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, has said Pakistan attached great importance to the ongoing composite dialogue with India and was committed to making it more substantive and purposeful.

He was responding to a felicitation message by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on him assuming the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan. Mr. Aziz said he was looking forward to working with his Indian counterpart closely to build friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

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