Islamabad: Maintaining that India would not give up its hold on Kashmir, Russia has said that New Delhi and Islamabad should first improve their bilateral relations before sitting down to resolve the vexed issue.

Ruling out any third party mediation, Russian Ambassador to Pakistan, Eduward S Shevchenko, said in Karachi on April 16 that India and Pakistan should resolve their conflicts through peaceful means by creating a climate of understanding and accommodation.

Russia, along with the United States, Britain and France, was ready to offer its good offices but India was not prepared to accept any third party mediation, he told a meeting of the Members of the English speaking Union.

"It (India) will not give up Kashmir," he was quoted as saying by the local daily 'Dawn'.

Stressing on normalisation of relations, the Russian Ambassador said, "In the current situation of hostility between the two countries, it is impossible to talk of resolving this issue without improving relations."

He said it was necessary for the two countries to improve relations step by step, by lessening hostilities.

Stating that the Kashmir issue was very complicated and cannot be solved in a day, he said, "It is a problem of bilateral nature between India and Pakistan and only they can solve it".

He said Russian President Vladmir Putin in July last at a conference in Almaty had tried to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf, but he failed as one side did not respond.

PTI