New Delhi: Pakistan has assured India that any evidence presented by New Delhi that shows the linkage of Islamabad to terrorist activities in the neighbouring country will be considered in the same sympathetic manner as the proof given by the US against al-Qaeda.

"Why should we make a discrimination? After all, terrorism is an international phenomena and it hits Pakistan as much as it hits India," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told Karan Thapar of sources in an interview broadcast Tuesday.  

Kasuri was replying to a question on whether Pakistan will look at the evidence provided by India with the same sympathetic consideration that is given to evidence provided by America against Al-Qaeda.

"Let me give you a more potent reason why we will do that. It's in our own interest. Pakistan wishes to develop very strongly (and) that is not possible if you have acts of instability and terrorism all over South Asia. That's not in our interest," he stressed.

Kasuri ended his four-day private visit to India Tuesday. He had informal talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee and both sides agreed to hold 'substantial discussions' on bilateral issues when Mukherjee goes to Islamabad Jan 13. 

Kasuri's remarks come nearly a fortnight after India and Pakistan set up a path-breaking institutional anti-terror mechanism to cooperate in counter-terrorism operations.

During the foreign-secretary level talks held Nov 14-15, India shared with Pakistan 'some evidence' of the linkages of Pakistan-based terrorists with terrorist incidents in the country.
 

But New Delhi couldn't present what it claimed as evidence linking Islamabad with the July 11 Mumbai terror bombings due to a legal bar that forbids sharing evidence with another country till a formal chargesheet has been filed in the court.

 
Subsequently, Mukherjee claimed that India had 'reasonably strong evidence' of Pakistan's complicity in terror acts on India. 

"Of course and we expect the evidence we provide will also be taken seriously. So we have to develop trust on that. We are not looking at evidence of a quality that will get a conviction in a court of law," Kasuri said when asked if the anti-terrorism mechanism would take seriously evidence of the involvement of Pakistani agencies in terror against India.

Kasuri also claimed that India and Pakistan have made 'enough progress' on the Kashmir issue and could resolve the dispute over Siachen glacier and Sir Creek  the narrow marshland between Gujarat and Sindh if both sides show the political will required for it. He also stressed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Pakistan, likely next year, will give a big push to the resolution of these contentious issues.

"If you show progress on Siachen and also on Sir Creek and I think there are grounds for saying that can be done.We would definitely hope that that happens. This process will definitely go forward when Dr. Manmohan Singh visits Pakistan," Kasuri said.

Kasuri fuelled hope that a way can be found to address the Indian concerns on demilitarisation of the world's highest battlefield.

He, however, seemed hesitant to accept the Indian position on authenticating actual ground positions of troops before redeployment and asked India not to insist on conditions that can 'compromise our own position.'
 

"It (resolution of the Siachen issue) can be done provided you don't make us do things which compromise our own position. If the only purpose is to let people know where the two armies are, I think we can find a way around it," he said.

 "It's for the Indian leadership to take that decision," Kasuri said.

"I see no reason why it cannot be done," he stressed.

Claiming that India and Pakistan have made progress on resolving the Kashmir issue and had exchanged 'useful views' on it, Kasuri stressed that the two countries are discussing Jammu and Kashmir and other bilateral issues at 'multifarious levels.'