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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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Musharraf tells Indian FM Kashmir is key to peace ISLAMABAD, Saturday (AFP) Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf told Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh in their first talks Friday that the key to peace between the nuclear neighbours lay in settling the 56-year-old Kashmir dispute. Singh met General Musharraf at his official Army House residence in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, for almost one hour and a half, at the end of a visit to attend a regional foreign ministers' forum. Musharraf "emphasised the need for simultaneous progress" on all issues, especially the dispute over who should rule divided Kashmir - which lies at the heart of decades of mutual mistrust and hostility between the South Asian neighbours who went public as nuclear powers in 1998. "It is important to address this (Kashmir) issue with sincerity with a view to reaching a final settlement that accorded fully with the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiris within a reasonable timeframe," Musharraf said, according to a foreign ministry statement. Singh said both men stressed the importance of continuing the dialogue "in an atmosphere free of violence and to tackling the scourge of terrorism with renewed vigour". After Friday's talks both sides declared their commitment to pursuing peace and dialogue. Musharraf reiterated Pakistan's "commitment to making the composite dialogue process a success," while Singh declared a "renewed determination to work with Pakistan bilaterally to normalise our relations and resolve our differences". |
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