Friday, June 10 2005 09:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Pakistan yesterday (Jun 9, 2005) suggested taking forward the peace process with India at a "greater speed" so that it is not "hijacked by extremists" and said the reaction to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief L K Advani's remarks about Mohammad Ali Jinnah shows "extremists" would go to any length to destroy the process.

Speaking at the Brookings Institute, visiting Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said Advani's visit to Pakistan and his comments there gave "greater permanence to the India Pakistan peace process".

"Advani's visit helped the ongoing peace process between Pakistan and India...his comments gave greater permanence to the peace process," he said.

Kasuri said the reaction "of some extremists" to Advani's comments on Jinnah "shows they (the extremists) will go to any length to destroy the peace process and we must guard against that".

"So, the conclusion is that India and Pakistan must continue with the peace process at greater speed than hitherto so that it does not get hijacked by extremists," he said.

Kasuri said he himself would not use the word "secular" as Jinnah did because, when translated into Urdu, it means "irreligious".

He said the challenge to improving relations with India and resolution of all outstanding issues is Kashmir, adding a promising start has been made but it has to be pursued so that they can get the past behind them.

For durable peace between Pakistan and India, he insisted Kashmir issue needed to be resolved. "It is axiomatic that for this to happen, the people of Kashmir have to be involved in the peace process", the Pakistan Foreign Minister said adding the other emerging issues are Baglihar and Kishenganga projects.

According to Kasuri, "the continued interest of the US is essential if the momentum for resolving Indo-Pak issues is not to be lost."

In an apparent to the US opposition to Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline, Kasuri hoped that Washington would see this and other gas pipeline projects emanating from Central Asia in the context of the critical energy needs of India and Pakistan.

On Indo-Pakistan issues, Kasuri agreed that there is a lot to be done to meet the concerns of ordinary Indians and Pakistanis. "We need to further liberalise the visa regime."

Kasuri said Pakistan is prepared for a mutual and balanced reduction of armed forces with India but it cannot be unilateral, adding, "Weakness does not make for peace."

Yesterday, he said, both India and Pakistan are confident that neither Pakistan nor India is in a position to inflict a military decision on the other. That, more than anything else, is bringing realism into play.

Expressing Pakistan's happiness over the decision of the US to sell surveillance planes and F-16s, he said if there was an arms imbalance between India and Pakistan, it will be a source of instability to the region. "Our approaches are basically of a defensive nature."

He claimed that Pakistan's opposition to the resolution by India, Germany, Japan and Brazil seeking permanent membership of the UN Security Council was not anti-Indian.

Pakistan seeks a "holistic approach" for UN reforms. The five permanent members of the Security Council today were not chosen by the present membership and there is no point in addition to them. The new members should be elected periodically.

Kasuri, who came to the meeting after talks at the White House with National Security officials, said the US and Pakistan are partners in the global effort against terrorism. However, Pakistan's fight against terrorism began even before 9/11.

But terrorism, said Kasuri, will not be defeated by military means alone, adding it will be defeated only if "the root causes" are addressed.