India, Pak agree to go beyond Kashmir in talks
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and
Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz today agreed that
any future dialogue between both countries should cover all
bilateral issues.
Talking to newspersons after a 30-minute meeting with the
Pakistani minister, Vajpayee said it was agreed by the
two sides to restart the stalled talks which broke down due to
Islamabad's insistence of taking up the core issue of Kashmir on the
priority basis.
Aziz went to the Royal Hotel this morning before the start of
the meeting to exchange views with him on the whole range of
bilateral matters.
Vajpayee described the meeting as very useful and positive,
saying the officials of the two countries will continue to meet.
Aziz also held extensive talks with Minister of State for
External Affairs Vasundhara Raje, during which they directed the
officials to work for modalities on restarting the talks.
India has also rejected any outside interference
in Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that it was an integral part of the
country.
Reacting to NAM chairman Nelson Mandela's statement that
Kashmir was a ''concern for all of us'' and that it (NAM) would
lend support to resolution of the issue, the official sources said
that they do not ''accept the so-called internationalisation of the
issue''.
UNI
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