Islamabad: Pakistan desires to engage India in a meaningful dialogue over the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursid Mehmud Kasuri has told US Secretary of State Colin Powell during a lengthy telephonic conversation ahead of the crucial visit of US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca to Islamabad.

According to officials, Powell rang up to greet Kasuri on his appointment as Foreign Minister and, in the process, discussed bilateral, regional and security related issues.

Kasuri told Powell that Pakistan wanted to engage India in a meaningful dialogue, adding the Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali government would also fulfill all its commitments to the international community in the fight against terrorism.

Earlier, Kasuri in an interview to local daily 'The News' said that Pakistan would continue to make efforts to talk to India despite New Delhi's "reluctance".

"We thought that after the establishment of a Democratic government in Pakistan, our relations with India would improve, but unfortunately, New Delhi did not give a positive reaction," he said.

"In my view India and Pakistan must pave the way for economic development by defusing tensions in the region," he said.

"Pakistan, in spite of Indian obduracy, wants to improve its relation with India. The Simla Agreement has no clause that says the UN resolutions should be ignored and forgotten. Rather, the agreement says that both the countries should hold talks to resolve their outstanding issues," Kasuri said.

Kasuri said both India and Pakistan have "almost" agreed to hold "composite dialogue" and start a process to find a solution to Kashmir issue and other outstanding problems after the Agra Summit. But India, he claimed, adopted the stance that after the Simla Agreement, Pakistan could not raise Kashmir issue in UN as the agreement had superseded the Security Council resolutions.

About threats of war between the two countries, Kasuri said by amassing troops at the border India perceived that Pakistan would bow down under pressure, but it did not happen.

"There cannot be any war because both the countries are nuclear powers," he said.

On whether Pakistan planned to raise Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council of which it is a non-permanent member now, he said, "We will spare no effort to get the UNSC resolutions implemented for the solution on Kashmir."

PTI