Islamabad: Indicating that South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) was an appropriate forum for India and Pakistan to kick start a fresh dialogue, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said his government would soon work out new dates for the regional grouping's summit to be held in Islamabad later this year.

"We shall give a new date for the SAARC conference. It will help lower the temperature in South Asia," he told BBC Radio while welcoming Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's offer of a hand of friendship in Srinagar on April 18.

Reacting to Vajpayee's statement, he said, "A positive thing has come forth and it ought to be welcomed in a positive manner.

"When the new government came to power in Pakistan, in my very first statement I said, we attach very high priority to improvement of relations with India. But unfortunately we did not receive any response. Now the response has come and Pakistan welcomes it," he said.

Referring to recent exchanges between External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Pakistani Ministers on the theory of pre-emption, Kasuri said, "In the capacity of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, I can say with responsibility that I never used any wrong or filthy language."

Asked about war of words between India and Pakistan on the issue, Kasuri said he does not want to worsen the issue by going into the past. "It is of no use to repeat those sentences," he said.

PTI