Wednesday, July 6 2005 16:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Astana (Kazakhstan): India today (July 6, 2005) told Pakistan that it was ready to give "concrete evidence" of cross-border terrorism and made it clear that it will not accept linkage of trade and economic cooperation with progress on the vexed Kashmir issue "We will give you concrete evidence of cross-border terrorism," External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh said during a 45-minute meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on the margins of the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Contending that there were no good or bad terrorists, Aziz said, "We are institutionally against terrorism." Official sources said the recent controversy over Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid admitting that he had organised a training camp for Kashmiri militants at his farmhouse near Rawalpindi in the late 1980s did not figure in the meeting.

At the meeting both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the composite dialogue process. The Pakistan Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri, said the dialogue process was proceeding. "Naturally, some hiccups are there but the process is irreversible," Aziz said. "We agreed that this process is irreversible," Singh told reporters.

No redrawing of boundaries

On the Kashmir issue, Singh said "Pakistan accepted India's contention that there will be no redrawing of boundaries and look at some out-of-the-box solutions."

He said Pakistan would like to increase the frequency of the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service as also increasing the air and road transport linkages. Aziz also spoke about the Wagah-Attari transport linkages. During the meeting the two leaders discussed the bilateral relationship in considerable depth.

"We reviewed the bilateral relationship in considerable depth. The composite dialogue process is going well and has yielded good results in the last 18 months," the External Affairs Minister said adding the talks were held in an atmosphere, which was "very warm, friendly and frank".

Issues to be resolved peacefully

Aziz said after the meeting that Pakistan wanted the peace process to move forward. "We want the peace process to move forward. We want the various issues between the two countries to be resolved peacefully. We talked about all issues in a very open and informal atmosphere. We discussed the Baglihar project and how the project was moving and the Iran-India gas pipeline (via Pakistan) which will create a win-win situation for both the countries," he said. Aziz also indicated that Pakistan was no longer uniform on Kashmir.

"We talked about the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir and how we can take it (peace process) forward. This is a continuous process and these discussions will keep going on. Both countries are committed to the peace process and also committed to resolving disputes peacefully. We are moving ahead to grow and to develop and to stay with what is happening in all over the world," Aziz said.

During the parleys Aziz said several financers were available for the India-Iran-Pakistan pipeline project and as a former World Bank official, he understood the need for "proper financial structuring" before going ahead with the project.

Pipeline is now in conceptual stage

Singh said the pipeline was right now at the "conceptual state and it has to be structured financially". The Pakistani side "understood the need for risk mitigation and of delivering the gas at India's doorstep", he said.

New Delhi has nursed security concerns over continued supply of gas from Iran via Pakistan and wanted assurances that there will be no disruption in it.

Speaking on the joint economic commission, which is meeting after many years, Singh said, "Both sides felt it was an important step at bolstering trade and economic cooperation." Aziz also invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan. Kasuri is scheduled to visit India in September for talks with Singh.