Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Thursday said India and Pakistan must stop "playing favourites" among the Kashmiri leaders.
In a wide-ranging interview a day after the two sides agreed on a roadmap to resume the composite dialogue, Kasuri said: "We should encourage contacts between Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC with governments in New Delhi and Islamabad without exception."
He, however, said the involvement of Kashmiri representatives is "not a pre-condition. This is only a sensible and logical way of looking at it. I am not saying this is the time they should be involved [in the peace talks].
But common sense would suggest that sooner rather than later" this should be done.
"It does not mean that you have favourites that you will talk to Ansari [Hurriyat faction led by Abbas Ansari] and not to Geelani [of rival Hurriyat faction]. That applies to Pakistan also. We should stop playing favourites," he said.
His comments came a day after President Pervez Musharraf spoke of inclusion of Kashmiri leaders in the peace talks after the meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan later this year.
Kasuri said it would be a "real test" for him and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha when they meet in August after official-level talks. The possibility of an Indo-Pak summit would be considered after this, he said.
"The two foreign offices have played a positive role and this will make it easier for us when we meet in August. That will a be real test because it is quite clear that any shift in stated positions can take place only at the political level," he said.
Kasuri said the interaction of the Kashmiri leaders among themselves and with the Indian and Pakistan governments "will not only create the right atmosphere, but it will also provide the maneuverability to both the governments that is necessary for them if they have to show flexibility because involving the Kashmiris introduces an element of moderation into the whole dialogue."
Asked about his recent assertion that India must move to resolve the Kashmir issue while President Musharraf still holds the army chief's post, Kasuri said: "I am only stating something eminently sensible. Nobody should be surprised by the statement, particularly not the Indians, because India has always maintained that the army has played an important role on issues like those of Kashmir."
Musharraf has said he would step down as army chief by the end of the year following an understanding reached with the Muttahida Majlis-e Amal last year.
"Going by India's own logic, you have a Muslim League government in power in Pakistan and at the same time you have
a president who totally backs the peace process. And that president also happens to be the chief of army staff," he said.
Asked whether he foresaw a solution to the vexed Kashmir issue by the end of this year, Kasuri said: "I am not laying dead-lines or pre-conditions...we do not live in a world of make-believe."