Favouring simplification of procedures for easier movement of Kashmiris across the Line of Control, Pakistan on Monday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's latest offer of a friendship treaty will help the peace process enter a 'new important phase.'
"The Indian prime minister's speech (in Amritsar) encourages us to believe that the peace process will be strengthened and enter a new important phase," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said in a statement at a media briefing in Islamabad.
Pakistan welcomes Dr Singh's remarks
Dr Singh had, in his speech, offered Pakistan a treaty of peace and friendship and spoke about finding pragmatic, practical solutions to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute while suggesting that the two countries can work towards making the Line of Control irrelevant.
"Pakistan favours simplification of procedures for freer movement of Kashmiris across the LoC," the statement said, referring to President Pervez Musharraf's suggestion to open five points across the LoC after the quake last year. The statement also said that Pakistan hoped that Dr Singh's 'public endorsement that people on both sides of the LoC should be able to move freely and trade' will lead to immediate activation of the points.
PM offers peace, security pact to Pak
On the peace treaty offer, Aslam said, "The ideas of non-aggression pact or a friendship treaty have been suggested in the past by both sides. The fact remains that the distrust caused by the persistence of problems and disputes have prevented these ideas from becoming a reality. This underscores the need for meaningful dialogue to address problems especially the Jammu and Kashmir issue."
The spokesperson said Pakistan had at present no text or details of Dr Singh's proposed treaty but resolution of Kashmir issue would provide a conducive environment. "There is no doubt that progress towards settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute along with improved environment through interaction among Kashmiris on this side of the LoC will greatly help the process of normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India."
Peace treaty with Pakistan? Tell us
"Eventually, the peace process must lead to resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which would usher in an era of good neighbourly relations between the two countries. That environment would also be conducive to the conclusion of treaty of friendship," she said.
Referring to Dr Singh's suggestion about finding a pragmatic and practical solution to Kashmir issue and the need to work towards making LoC irrelevant, Aslam said Musharraf had, on a number of occasions, said that status quo can not be solution to the Kashmir issue.
For his part, President Musharraf suggested that the LoC should be made irrelevant for Kashmiris, she said. Asked about Dr Singh's remark that Pakistan should stop linking the Kashmir issue with normalisation of relations between the two countries, Aslam said it was unrealistic to expect Pakistan to de-link the two.
Complete Coverage: Indo-Pak Peace Talks