Friday, July 7 2006 18:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Contending it was not easy for him to be without a counterpart in India specially at this juncture, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri said protocol does not permit him to pick up the phone and talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who holds the charge of Foreign Minister.

"At a time when there is criticism that the peace process is not moving ahead, who do I talk to?," he wondered during an interaction with Outlook magazine.

"It is not easy for me specially at this time to be without a counterpart in New Delhi," Kasuri was quoted as saying by the magazine in a release here.

He said the situation was in sharp contrast to the past when India had a foreign minister.

"It was easy to communicate with New Delhi then," he said.

Kasuri has maintained a good rapport with Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha, both foreign ministers in the NDA Government.

The Pakistan minister said he couldn't possibly talk to the Indian Prime Minister on a regular basis.

"Protocol does not permit me to pick up the telephone and talk to him (Singh)," he said.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister also expressed apprehensions over the "slowing down" of the peace process.

He felt that unless the peace process gained momentum, we can be back to square one.