Pakistan will continue to engage India: foreign office

The Foreign Office has said that Pakistan will continue to engage India in the twin process of confidence building and dialogue, hoping that it will result in resolution of all outstanding issues paving the way for peace, stability and co-operation.
Talking to the media representatives at his regular weekly press briefing, the official spokesman said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was opening his India visit on Tuesday to pursue the same mission.
During his two-day stay at the Indian capital, Shaukat Aziz will be meeting Indian government and opposition leaders, the businessmen, media, and intellectuals. He will also have a meeting with Kashmiri leaders.
FO Spokesman Masood Khan said Shaukat Aziz's visit was taking place at an important juncture in the relations of two neighbours when the first round of the composite dialogue had completed, and the two countries were approaching the threshold of the second round in coming weeks.
Shaukat Aziz is visiting Maldives, Sri Lanka and India in his capacity as the current chairman of Saarc, he said, adding this will be his first visit to India as the prime minister of Pakistan.
During the two-day visit, Masood Khan said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will meet with his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh, and call on the President of India as well as former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L.K. Advani, the ministers for External Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas are scheduled to call on him.
The two countries have taken a number of confidence building measures in the last 20 months, said Masood Khan, adding the most important CBM was the unilateral offer of a cease-fire by Pakistan along with Line of Control (LoC) that has been holding for a year.
The spokesman said Pakistan wished to resolve all its differences, including Jammu and Kashmir with India through peaceful means. In this regard, President General Pervez Musharraf held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New York on 24 September 24 last, where it was agreed that possible options for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir should be explored in a sincere spirits and purposeful manner, he added.
He said the President has also initiated a domestic debate for the discussion on various options for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Masood Khan said that was against this background that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will meet his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh, adding: "Pakistan will continue to engage India in the twin process of confidence building and dialogue which, we hope, will result in resolution of all outstanding issues, specially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and this will pave the way for peace, stability and co-operation in South Asia."