Saturday, June 11 2005 09:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Pakistan and India will experience "durable peace" only if the two nations resolve the issue of Kashmir, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri has said.

And Kashmiris must be included in the peace process for the matter to be resolved, Kasuri told reporters in Washington yesterday (Jun 10, 2005) after meeting his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice for more than an hour at the State Department.

Kasuri said Rice asked how the dialogue between Pakistan and India was going.

"I told her that we needed to resolve this issue (Kashmir) so that there could be durable peace between Pakistan and India," he said.

"Pakistan and India need to guard against other issues raising their ugly heads because 57 years of Kashmir is enough," Kasuri said.

"In order that it is resolved we need to include the Kashmiris in the peace process," he said. "There can be no resolution to the dispute if the Kashmiris are not involved."