Kasuri extends 'hand of friendship'

Despite sharp differences over Jammu and Kashmir issue and the problem of cross-border terrorism, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri today said he has come with a message to foster friendship with India.

After offering prayers at the mausoleum of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, Kasuri said "from here, I want to send a message not only to the Muslims in India, but to all the Indian people including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains and other communities that people of Pakistan want friendship with all of you.

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"We have extended a hand of friendship towards you. The dialogue we are engaging

with India is with sincerity," he said.

Describing External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh -- with whom he held extensive parleys over two days to review the progress in bilateral relations and the composite dialogue process -- as a man with considerable experience, Kasuri said: "I feel that both of us have started understanding each other. We both know that the issues before us are very difficult and complex" but "we are trying to respect each other's point of view in totality."

When Islam came to this part of the world, it brought a message of peace and love, not of the gun, he said. That is why both Hindus and Muslims visit the holy shrine and there was no attempt to impose one's religion on another, and "that is why I wanted to specially come here".