Tuesday, April 12 2005 16:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Days before his visit to India, President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan would not make one-sided concessions on Kashmir and both the countries would have to be flexible to resolve the problem.

At a meeting with leaders of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in Islamabad last night (Apr 11, 2005), Musharraf also ruled out accepting Line of Control (LoC) as the permanent border to settle the Kashmir imbroglio.

He said there were positive signals from the Indian leadership on efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue and Islamabad will reciprocate any flexibility shown by New Delhi.

Flexibility, courage and boldness on the part of both Indian and Pakistani leadership could lead to a Kashmir solution, acceptable to all including the people of Kashmir, official APP news agency quoted him as saying.

He said if India were to show flexibility, Pakistan would also be prepared to reciprocate.

"The flexibility will never be unilateral," he said.

He described the recently commenced Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service as an appreciable confidence-building measure that would help alleviate the sufferings of the people on both sides of the LoC and allow the divided families to meet.

In this regard Musharraf also appreciated the flexibility shown by India over the initiation of the bus service and said it is not a substitute for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Those who attended the meeting included PoK President General (Retd) Anwar Khan, PoK Prime Minister Sikander Hayat, JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) leader Amanullah Khan and PoK-based Hurriyat leaders.