Tuesday, July 25 2006 10:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan has said it has received a communication from India in response to its President Pervez Musharraf's proposals with regard to demilitarisation, self-governance and joint management to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan has received a 'non paper' from India in response to Musharraf's proposals and we were discussing these before the Mumbai blasts and it needs a lot of hard work. It is not not an easy situation, it is a complex issue and both sides have to work collectively," said Khurshid M. Kasuri.

On whether the Indian proposal on Kashmir were anywhere close to Musharraf's ideas of self-governance and joint management, he said there were differences and the two sides had been working on narrowing them down before the Mumbai blasts.

Asked if the proposals on Kashmir also pertained to the Siachen Glacier issue, he said "we were discussing that also," he said.

The importance of the 'non paper', which in diplomatic parlance means informal communication, should neither be exaggerated nor understated, the Pakistan Foreign Minister said without elaborating what the Indian response was.

Musharraf has made a number of proposals to resolve the Kashmir issue. These included dividing the region into five zones for joint management and demilitarisation of the state.

Kasuri told Pakistani daily 'Dawn that he was hopeful that the Indo-Pak composite dialogue process, which has hit a road block in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes, will soon be back on track, saying that it was in the interest of both countries as well as the region to carry forward the peace process.