Islamabad: Counselling patience for resolution of Kashmir and other Indo-Pak issues, Pakistani media today (Sep 8, 2004) suggested that the two nations should make progress on less intractable issues to create more conducive atmosphere for settlement of the vexed Kashmir problem.

"Although sceptics have questioned the speed of the dialogue and the failure to make progress on Kashmir, it is unwise to be so impatient at this stage" daily 'Dawn' said in an editorial titled "Keep the dialogue going", commenting on the Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers talks in New Delhi.

"Considering the protracted nature of the conflict between India and Pakistan and the fact that the two countries have gone to war thrice and have been on the brink of war a number of times, it is a major development that the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) has been holding for over nine months. Moreover, no one ever expected a speedy settlement on Kashmir."

While the Kashmir issue was not expected to resolved in "one swoop", it complimented both Ministers, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid M. Kasuri, for reaching an agreement on a number of other issues, such as a rail link between Munabao-Khokhrapar, conventional and nuclear CBMs and bus service between Lahore and Amritsar.

"As for Kashmir, to which Pakistan has been holding on as the core issue, it was not expected to be resolved in one swoop. In fact, Kasuri and Singh, realising the danger of vitiating the climate at this stage, were quite restrained when they expressed their concerns about events in Kashmir", it said.