Friday, April 8 2005 20:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan has said that it would permit the travel of the Kashmiri politicians on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) provided India allowed the Hurriyat leaders to visit this country.

The Government was ready to send the leaders from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), if the Hurriyat leaders were permitted to travel to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said, addressing a reception in Lahore yesterday (Apr 7, 2005) night.

"We will do the same in the case of 'PoK leaders' if the Indian Government permits Hurriyat Conference leaders to visit Pakistan," he said.

His comments came after Pakistan did not permit the top politicians of Jammu and Kashmir to travel by the inaugural bus service across the LoC. Instead, it said that their names were not in the first list and wanted the bus to be used by the divided families.

Kasuri's comments were seen in Islamabad, as Pakistan's willingness to permit politicians from PoK to visit Srinagar. India has already clarified that Hurriyat leaders could apply to obtain special permission for travel by the Kashmir buses.

Kasuri said that the commencement of the bus service across the Line of Control, could provide Kashmiris on both sides a chance to start thinking about possible solutions to the Kashmir issue.

He said that India and Pakistan have fought wars over Kashmir, but now "sanity has prevailed and hopefully this means a peaceful future for both countries."