'Impossible to continue talks with India if...'

Pakistan has said it will be impossible for it to continue dialogue with India if New Delhi does not pay importance to the Kashmir issue.

India must include the Kashmir issue in talks with Pakistan in order to take forward parleys between the two countries, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said.

"It will be impossible for Pakistan to continue the dialogue if India does not pay importance to the Kashmir issue," Qureshi told reporters.

His remarks came more than a week after the July 15 meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna in Islamabad, during which sharp differences arose between the two sides on the timeframe and roadmap for future talks.

On the proposed Pakistan-Afghanistan transit trade agreement, he described it as a significant achievement, but ruled out any provision in the pact to allow India to send its goods to Afghanistan via Pakistan.

The foreign minister also dismissed assertions by United States leaders and officials that the top Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leadership, including Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, are hiding in Pakistan.

Describing such reports as rubbish, he said, "Pakistan wants concrete evidence about the whereabouts of Osama or Mullah Omar."

He said that if anyone claims Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar are hiding in Pakistan, they must provide evidence to the government of Pakistan to back up their claims.