Monday, March 14 2005 18:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: Kashmir and Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan are interconnected issues without which any solution is unthinkable, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has said.

"Kashmir and Confidence Building are the two interconnected issues. From our point of view, the search for mutually acceptable resolution of Kashmir issue is connected with the process of Confidence Building and contacts between people," Saran told Russian daily "Nezavisimaya Gazeta".

"The issue of Kashmir is very complex. We cannot even think of any resolution unless we reach certain level of trust between the two nations. Only by moving in this direction we can create an environment to tackle the issue," Saran said.

He expressed hope that 'cricket diplomacy' between the two South Asian nuclear rivals would help in establishing closer relations between India and Pakistan.

"Cricket is very popular both in India and Pakistan. It is a pleasure for us to invite President Pervez Musharraf to witness one of the matches."

"We have achieved certain progress in Confidence Building and in establishing people-to-people contacts. At the moment, unprecedented number of people travel from one country to the other. I would say in this respect that the number of peace-supporters is growing. We hope it would help establish closer relations," Saran said.

He, however, cautioned that to sustain positive developments in bilateral ties Pakistan must keep its promise that no Pakistani territory will be used for cross border terrorism against India. "This assurance is vital for the peace process," Saran said.