Wednesday, September 20 2006 12:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: US President George Bush should make it clear to Pakistan that there is no justification for violence in Kashmir, an expert of a conservative think tank has said.

Observing that Islamabad still maintains a 'permissive attitude' towards indigenous militant groups, the expert also asked Bush not to shy away from straight talk on terrorism with Musharraf when he meets the Pakistani President on Friday.

"Musharraf may seek US support for Pakistan's position on Kashmir, but Washington should make clear that there is no justification for the use of violence, Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation has said in a piece titled 'Fine Tuning Relations with Pakistan'.

"Recent reports of possible connections of Pakistan-based Kashmir groups to international terrorist plots demonstrate the inherent dangers of Islamabad maintaining a permissive attitude toward indigenous militant groups," the expert said.

"President Bush should not shy away from straight talk on terrorism issues and should coax further cooperation from Islamabad in denying safe haven to individuals and groups that threaten both Pakistan and the international community."

Curtis said although President Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh agreed to establish an 'institutional mechanism' to implement counterterrorism initiatives, but lack of trust between the nuclear-armed neighbors will make it difficult to achieve concrete results in the short-term