Islamabad: Pakistan said that a dialogue with India could begin any time if the two countries demonstrated political will. "If there is political will, they can start the process of dialogue where they left off at Agra," Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri told Pakistan newspaper 'Daily Times'.

Referring to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's remarks that proper homework was imperative for dialogue, Kasuri said Pakistan does not believe in rushing into a political summit without doing proper homework either, "but this should not take months if there was political will."

On the controversy over Musharraf's statement, Kasuri said, "it was quoted out of context."

In fact, the President had said that after Kargil, both realised that war was not a viable option. "He said it was ironic that Pakistan and India talk to each other when the situation is relatively normal but stop talking when it gets bad."

Meanwhile, an official of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said it regretted the recent statements by the Indian leadership and Indian External Affairs Ministry over the "slanted reporting of the remarks made by the President of Pakistan in an interview to the NDTV."

PTI