Tuesday, June 7 2005 20:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan today (Jun 7, 2005) made it clear to the visiting Kashmiri separatist leaders that it cannot "force" India to include them in the dialogue process to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan has been trying to persuade India to include "genuine" representatives of Kashmir in the dialogue but has not been successful, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told reporters after a meeting with Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and eight other leaders from the Kashmir valley, including JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) leader Yasin Malik in Islamabad.

"Let us walk before we run. We cannot force India to include the Kashmiri representatives in the dialogue," he said.

Kasuri, however, said Pakistan has been trying to put "diplomatic pressure" on India in this regard.

During the meeting, which took place hours before their talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the separatist leaders discussed the ongoing peace process to resolve the Kashmir issue and their demand for inclusion of Hurriyat representatives in the dialogue process to make it trilateral.

Kasuri also vehemently denied allegations by hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani that Pakistan followed a US-drawn roadmap on Kashmir under pressure.

He said similar allegations were made in the past over Iraq, but Pakistan neither voted for the US invasion of Iraq nor dispatched its army to Baghdad at Americans' request.

Geelani had turned down Pakistan's invitation for the visit to the Country and PoK.

Kasuri asserted that there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue. "We cannot enforce a military solution on India and vice-versa," he said, answering questions during a luncheon hosted by him.

While pressing for inclusion of Kashmiris in the dialogue, Farooq wanted the two countries to speed up the process with a set timeframe for resolving the Kashmir issue.

"Right now there is too much gap and delay in the meetings being held by India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The dialogue should be speeded up and be held without interruptions with a set timeframe," he said.

Farooq said Kasuri has assured them that no decision on resolving the Kashmir issue would be taken without involving Kashmiris.

He too denied any US pressure, saying that they have been interacting with various American officials and he has not heard of any roadmap on Kashmir by Washington.

Without directly referring to differences between his group and that of Geelani, he said efforts were underway to take all the leaders on board.

However, he said time has come to move forward even if some of the leaders declined to join, apparently referring to Geelani's decision not to visit Pakistan in response to its invitation.