ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri has said that the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan needs to show results to keep up the morale of the pro-peace forces in both countries.

Talking to the Dawn, Mr. Kasuri said while Pakistan was "very serious" about the composite dialogue process, it was also necessary to demonstrate that the process was not an exercise in futility by showing "tangible progress."

"This is necessary to keep up the morale of the public in place. If much progress will not be achieved then the pro-peace forces on both sides will be demoralised and those not in favour of peace will be strengthened," he said.

The Foreign Minister said the Foreign Secretary level talks set to begin on Tuesday in New Delhi must demonstrate the constructive spirit of the Manmohan-Musharraf meeting at Havana.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan and a team of eight officials from the Foreign Ministry left here on Monday for the New Delhi talks.

"We hope that as a result of this meeting we will, in the spirit of the Havana Declaration, see narrowing down of divergences and building on convergences," Mr. Kasuri said.

He said it would be the first meeting after the September 16 declaration that had, for the first time, publicly acknowledged an exchange of "useful ideas" on Kashmir.

Mr. Kasuri said the Foreign Secretary level talks would be followed by a meeting between the Foreign Ministers. He is visiting New Delhi at the end of November to attend the wedding of daughter of Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer. There would be no official meetings during this "purely private" visit but he did not rule out the possibility of a chance meeting with Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail