New Delhi: Contradicting former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's claim, Pakistan today (Dec 16, 2003) said it was "surprised" when militancy broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 although it had "seen it coming" after 1987.

Refuting Bhutto's statement that her country was behind the low-intensity conflict, Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan said, "When the uprising started, we were surprised by its spontaneity and intensity."

"We had, however, seen it coming after what happened (in Kashmir) 1987 onwards," he told Karan Thapar's 'Court Martial' programme telecast on SAB TV today.

Describing the militancy as "totally indigenous", the envoy however said Pakistan "continues to support Kashmiri struggle since the last 56 years".

He said, "The struggle which has taken a militant turn will come down" once a "sustained, serious dialogue process" was initiated in which everyone, including militants, would be involved.

Asked whether Pakistan had in mind any solution for the problem, the High Commissioner refused to prescribe any saying it would amount to pre-judging things as views of all the three parties -- India, Pakistan and Kashmiris -- had to be heard.

A solution has to be evolved through dialogue, which can be acceptable to all the three parties and takes into consideration "the wishes of Kashmiris".

While favouring a composite dialogue between the two countries, Khan termed Kashmir as the "central and main" issue and other seven identified issues as "irritants", some of which are linked to the Kashmir problem.

He also dismissed Bhutto's statement favouring soft border and shared sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir as a view of an "individual".

When asked about the Pakistani intrusion in Kargil planned by then Army Chief Pervez Musharraf only three months after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's historic bus trip to Lahore, the High Commissioner suggested that India should "forget the past" and "look ahead".

On the issue of suspension of over-flights between the two countries, he said India's "unilateral" action had "completely finished" Pakistan's air operations to East Asia, particularly Dhaka, Malaysia and Indonesia.

He said Pakistan was not shy of discussing the issue.

Asked why Pakistan was not granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India when the latter had done it long back, Khan said it was not important since the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) was round the corner.

"A framework agreement on SAFTA will be signed soon," he said.

On the fencing work being undertaken by India along the line of control (LoC), he claimed that it violated an agreement signed between the two countries in 1947.

To a question on conditions like monitoring by the UN attached by Pakistan to start a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in PoK (Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir), he said the procedures needed to be discussed.

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Kashmir is NOT negotiable