Pak. ready for talks on 'cross-border terrorism'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG.11. The Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inam ul- Haq, has said that Pakistan is ready to discuss the issue of ``cross border terrorism'' with India.

In an interview to BBC after talks with the Foreign Secretary, Ms. Chokila Iyer, in Colombo on Saturday, Mr. Haq said that the issue of ``cross-border terrorism'' figured at the Agra summit between the Pakistani President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee.

He claimed that an agreement was reached to take it up at the political level. Although there was no joint declaration at the end of the summit, yet a structure was agreed. ``We can go ahead on this structure if the two countries so desire,'' he said.

In response to a question, Mr. Haq said in the interview: ``No, India never said that it did not want to discuss Kashmir. Rather, Jammu and Kashmir and confidence-building measures were going to be discussed at the political and official levels. Working groups were being constituted for this purpose''. Mr. Haq described his meeting with Ms. Iyer as ``very positive''. ``It was agreed that the process which was initiated at Agra by the two countries had to be carried ahead. The process of dialogue needs to be continued to resolve the issues including Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Foreign Secretary confirmed that the Indian Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister had accepted our invitation to visit Pakistan. The dates will be decided later''.

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