A peace and friendship treaty suggested by the Indian prime minister is possible only after a dispute over Kashmir is resolved, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said on Friday. “I hope that what the (Indian) prime minister (Manmohan Singh) says in terms of a peace and friendship treaty does materialise,” Kasuri told the English news channel Times Now in an interview telecast on Friday. “But then he would know more than anybody else that we need to resolve all our conflicts before that. I am sure that he must have been mindful of that fact,” Kasuri said.On Monday, Singh said that he “earnestly” hoped ties between the two estranged neighbours would improve enough to generate trust and both can agree to “a treaty of peace, security and friendship”. Kasuri’s remarks also come just a day before his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee is to arrive in Islamabad to review progress made in three rounds of peace talks launched in 2004 and extend an invite for a regional summit in New Delhi this April.
Kasuri said Singh might have made his comments against the backdrop of progress made in the “back-channel” talks. “If that is the case ... it is a very welcome statement. But I would like to repeat, we must resolve all issues particularly Kashmir,” he added.