CHANGA, MANGA, 26 December 2004 — Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said yesterday Pakistan would keep continuing dialogues with India on equal footing to resolve all bilateral issues including Kashmir.

He said that Pakistan and India had fought three wars and both know that wars yield nothing.

Meanwhile Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran arrived in Lahore yesterday to participate in “crucial” talks with his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar here tomorrow.

Pakistan says that the issue of Baglihar Dam will come up in the foreign secretaries’ meeting, which is being held to assess the recently completed composite dialogue and outline a calendar for a fresh round.

“We will not be specifically dwelling on the Baglihar Dam issue but there will be a reference to it in general terms,” said an official.

Another important issue to be reviewed will be the commencement of the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus service. On top of the agenda of the meeting, which wraps up on Tuesday, will be the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and peace and security.

The Foreign Office recently admitted that there has been no breakthrough and that now it was time for flexibility from both sides to achieve a result-oriented dialogue.

Asked about the definition of “flexibility” Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said: “Flexibility (is) without sacrificing the tenets of our policy on Kashmir. It is a signal for a methodology for a meaningful and productive dialogue. We know India’s position as it was in the 50s and what it is now”, he said.

India’s chief diplomat took a land route to reach Pakistan yesetrday for talks on nuclear confidence-building and said he hoped to make progress on other thorny issues as well. The two sides last met on Dec. 15 in Pakistan when they agreed to push forward plans for a nuclear hot line but failed to reach a deal on advance warning of ballistic missile tests.

Shyam Saran indicated the Monday-Tuesday talks were part of a step-by-step move. Saran and Riaz Khokhar will also discuss cross-border narcotics smuggling.

“This time the main focus would be on building mutual trust in nuclear and conventional fields and to counter narcotics trafficking,” Saran told reporters before crossing over to Pakistan through the transit point of Wagah in Punjab state.

As for the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus service, previous rounds of talks on the trans-border bus hit obstacles with India insisting people carry passports while traveling in disputed Kashmir and Islamabad opposing the call, saying the exercise was unnecessary.

Saran sounded upbeat, saying differences on issues had been narrowed between the two countries.

“We have already narrowed down differences on issues like visa relaxations, which has already produced good results,” Saran said.