On Board Special Aircraft: India today (Nov 13, 2004) said it will hold "substantial" talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during his to New Delhi from November 23 and "certainly look" at any "formal" proposal by Islamabad on Kashmir but firmly ruled out any third party mediation on the vexed issue.

India has also made it clear that success of the ongoing composite dialogue depended on the neighbouring country stopping cross-border terrorism.

"We are looking forward to the visit of Aziz," External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh told reporters on board special IAF aircraft while returning from Cairo after attending the military funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Aziz, who is the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) chairman, will arrive in New Delhi for a three-day visit on November 23.

In keeping with SAARC practice, Aziz will extend an invitation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to attend the SAARC summit in Dhaka from January 9 to 11.

"It is obvious that we will also have substantial talks with him," Singh, who was accompanied by Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPM (Communist Party Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, said.

Asked about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's recent suggestion on resolving the Kashmir issue, Singh said a proposal made at an Iftar party or through the media "really cannot be accepted".

"If such a formal proposal is made, we will certainly look at it," he said.