New York/New Delhi, Sept 25 (IANS) Amid possibility of a meeting with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi next week, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Friday underlined there was no alternative to talks with Pakistan and said he was ready to discuss all issues, including Kashmir.
‘Everything that they want to discuss and everything we want to discuss with them will be discussed,’ Krisha said in New York.
He was responding to questions on recent Pakistan Foreign Office statement that there can be no ‘meaningful, result-oriented’ discussions with India on Kashmir unless it stops treating it as its integral part and Qureshi’s remarks seeking US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue.
Krishna’s comments came a day after he had ‘a chance encounter’ with Qureshi at the United Nations, where they greeted each other warmly and talked about the floods in Pakistan.
‘Well, I was in Islamabad and we did talk and I have invited Excellency Qureshi to come to India and he has very graciously accepted my invitation,’ Krishna said. ‘I am looking forward to hosting him in Delhi… and the dates have to be worked out.’
Krishna’s remarks hve brightened the possibility of a substantial bilateral meeting with Qureshi, likely early next week.
Indian diplomats have yet to confirm any bilateral meeting, and sources in New Delhi only said nothing has been fixed as yet. This will be their first meeting after their last talks July 15 in Islamabad which ended in mutual recrimination over a host of issues, including Kashmir.
India has forcefully rejected Pakistan’s renewed bid to internationalise the Kashmir issue by rejecting any third-party intervention in Kashmir. But despite these rhetorical exchanges on Kashmir, Krishna underlined that talks would continue.
‘India wants to keep Pakistan engaged in talks because we do not see any other alternatives…talks are the only way to take this forward,’ he said.
