Thursday, October 6 2005 17:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Maintaining that there was no change in its stand on the Kashmir issue, Britain today (Oct 6, 2005) said that Defence Secretary John Reid's reported remarks equating Jammu and Kashmir and the Palestinian problem had been taken 'out of context.'

"The minister's comments have been taken out of context. He was highlighting the need for issues to be resolved by apolitical process and not through acts of terrorism," a British High Commission spokesperson here said commenting on reports taken from the Pakistani press.

The spokesperson said, "The UK's views on Kashmir are well known and have not changed".

India yesterday (Oct 5, 2005) reacted sharply to the reported remarks saying there was no parallel between the Palestine and Kashmir issues.

"We have seen news reports which quote the Defence Secretary of UK calling for 'resolution of political issues including Palestine and Kashmir."

If this is indeed what was said, then this unfortunate remark betrays lack of understanding of the J & K issue," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna had said.

On reports that Britain will have high-level talks aimed at a civilian nuclear exchange with Pakistan, the British High Commission spokesperson clarified that the parleys were on proliferation issues.

"We are holding talks with Pakistan on proliferation issues. It is important that we have open channels of communication on this issue," the spokesperson said.

"We shall be discussing a range of issues relating to proliferation," he added.