Thursday, July 13 2006 10:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: With India reacting strongly to Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri's remarks on Kashmir, Islamabad yesterday (July 12, 2006) night said his comments had been 'misreported' and that he had not talked about connection between the Kashmir issue and terror attacks in Mumbai.

"The Foreign Minister (Kasuri) had emphatically and unequivocally condemned the terrorist attack in Mumbai yesterday," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said after New Delhi expressed objections to Kasuri's remarks.

Kasuri, who is in the US, was yesterday quoted as saying that, " On the issue of Jammu and Kashmir we have not made much progress. There have been some confidence building measures but even those are half-hearted."

Noting that 'incremental approach is good', the Pakistani minister said, "But now we must tackle real issues. And this is the best way of tackling extremism in South Asia." Aslam said Kasuri, while talking about the Indo-Pak peace process, had stated that a number of confidence building measures were in place and the atmosphere between the two countries had improved."

Kasuri had said that, "The time, therefore, was right to address all outstanding issues, including the J& K dispute," she insisted.

"At no stage did the Foreign Minister talk about a connection between Mumbai terrorist attack and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," she added

She claimed that Pakistan does not tolerate terrorism and is in the forefront of international efforts to fight this menace. She also insisted that terror infrastructure did not exist on Pakistani soil or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.