Monday, September 18 2006 10:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf yesterday (Sept 17, 2006) said his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana 'augured' well for resolving bilateral issues, including the Kashmir problem, and the peace process has 'won'.

In his first remarks after the meeting with Singh on the margins of the NAM summit, Musharraf, who arrived here from the Cuban capital to address the UN General Assembly session, told reporters that his talks with Singh were 'successful'.

He said the joint statement issued after the talks was to the satisfaction of both sides. He said he would not call it a victory, but that the peace process had won, the state-run APP news agency reported.

Musharraf said that during his meeting with Singh, they did not go into the specifics of solutions of various issues currently being discussed by the two countries.

"We agreed to narrow down the divergences and strengthen convergences. The road forward is the willingness to discuss and resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," he said.

He said the talks at the Foreign Secretary-level between Pakistan and India would be held expeditiously.

"We have not fixed the dates but they are going to be held very soon."

On his invitation to Singh to visit Pakistan, Musharraf said the Indian Prime Minister was keen to visit the country at an appropriate time.

Musharraf, who would spend the next 18 days in the US during which he would address the UN General Assembly session here and later travel to Washington for talks with President George W Bush, said that Pakistan government's peace deal in North Waziristan tribal area was not with the Taliban but with the tribal elders there.

It was a process launched and carried forward by the grand Jirga or elders' council, the Pakistani leader said.

"There has been no agreement with the Taliban nor will there be any with them in future," he said.

"While we are fighting terrorism we should go beyond the military options and address the root causes of the scourge," he said.

Asked about the stepped up agitation by the opposition parties back home on a host of issues, he said,

"The fact that I am roaming around shows how confident and relaxed I am," he said.

"There was no problem in Pakistan and there was no question of destabilisation. This is my longest trip of 18 days and it shows my confidence," he said.

About talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, he said he would discuss with him international issues, including UN reforms, as the agenda is open.

About his meeting with Bush next week, Musharraf said there were misrepresentation and apprehensions in theWestern world on two issues --the peace deal with the tribesmen and the bill about women's rights protection.

The Government, he said, was not backtracking on the women's rights issue.

"What we're doing is to reach an agreed solution," he said.