Islamabad: Pakistan has said that in the event of an Indo-Pak summit, Pakistani Premier Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee.

This was stated by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, who also said that the fresh initiatives for resumption of dialogue have been taken as both sides have realised that the Kashmir issue cannot be solved through war.

Replying to questions on what prompted India to resume dialogue with Pakistan, Kasuri said, "The mobilisation and demobilisation of Indian troops, the economic sovereignty of Pakistan, the fact that India failed to isolate Pakistan among the international community and the fact that all the oil and gas pipelines will go through Pakistan forced Indian Premier Vajpayee to hold dialogue with Pakistan," he claimed.

He said both sides have also realised that they cannot change the status of Kashmir through war. "India mobilised one million troops and after 10 months, when it came no know this fact, demobilised them," he told reporters before leaving for New York to attend UN Security Council meeting on May 10.

He also claimed full support to the peace process from President Pervez Musharraf and the armed forces of Pakistan. They backed recent developments and initiatives of the government completely.

Referring to the talks Pakistan leaders had with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage during the official's visit to Islamabad this week, Kasuri said, "We told Armitage that India should not set any pre- conditions as that will cause the peace process to derail in the end. It is our experience that only that dialogue can succeed, which is held without any pre-condition."

To a query on the Kashmir issue, Kasuri said it was not important when the issue would be resolved. "The important thing is to start efforts to resolve such an important issue," he added.

When asked about changes in the principled stands of India and Pakistan over Kashmir, he said the stance of both countries were known to each other, as Pakistan always spoke of UN resolution and India termed Kashmir its integral part.

"At this stage, we are only going to hold dialogue, everyone knows our principled stand and there is no use to repeat it. It is our prime concern to sit together and hold dialogues. If India wants talks on trade, then we will talk about Kashmir."

Kasuri answered in negative when asked whether the recent developments in the indo-Pak ties were because of any international pressure.

"There is no pressure on Pakistan," he said, maintaining that during the last year, when the two countries were on the brink of war, the US, the UK and other friendly countries tried their best for de- escalation. It cannot be called pressure rather "a positive effort", he said.

Asked about Pakistan's visa policy towards India, he claimed Islamabad's visa regime was very liberal as compared to India's. "We expect that India will also make their visa regime liberal," he said.

PTI