Islamabad: Pakistan today (Oct 11, 2004) said there were no pre-conditions like stopping of cross border terrorism attached to further the dialogue process with India.

"There are no conditions for talks. If we go back to year 2000, it was at that time people talked about pre-conditions but now that we started the dialogue process, there are no pre-conditions," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan told reporters in Islamabad.

He was replying to a question on External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh's remarks at a SAFMA (South Asia Free Media Association) meeting in New Delhi on Saturday that the Indo-Pak normalisation process would move faster if Pakistan stops cross border terrorism.

Khan said the first cycle of Composite Dialogue process has been completed which was followed by President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "There is a momentum. I think in everybody's interest, such controversial statement should be avoided to keep the positive spirit of talks."

To another question about Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's comments that Pakistan extended support to militant groups in the North East, Khan said. "Such statements should not be made. They can hurt the dialogue process. Pakistan for its part has shown restraint. We expect the same sort of restraint from the Indian side."

"I could not believe that Indian Defence Minister made a statement like that," Khan said adding, "It is not substantiated. This is just that the finger of suspicion is pointed towards Pakistan...such allegations are not contributing to the atmosphere painstakingly built by top leaders of the two countries."

He said there was no change in Pakistan's Kashmir policy as stated by hard-line Hurriyat leader Sayed Ali Gilani to visiting Pakistani journalists in Srinagar.

"There has been no U turn in the past 57 years. If there is a U turn you will have a solution. Right now we are groping for a solution. It is a difficult challenge for the people of Pakistan, India and Kashmir," he said.

Replying to another question, Khan said efforts to reopen Consulates by India and Pakistan in Karachi and Mumbai respectively were delayed due to "logistic reasons. But there are no substantive reasons and we hope that the two Consulates will be opened soon."

He also said that India and Pakistan are working on dates to resume the second round of Composite Dialogue process.