Islamabad, December 24
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who hopes to have a one-to-one meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the next week’s SAARC Summit, said it was time to resume composite dialogue on Kashmir and other issues as the two nations had played their role in normalising ties by initiating a series of confidence-building measures.

“The environment has been created, we played our role, they (the Indians) also played their role, now the way forward, certainly, is starting a composite dialogue, and this composite dialogue must include Kashmir,” he said while addressing the annual reception dinner of Pakistani Americans Political Action Committee at Rawalpindi last night.

Referring to the CBMs, he said Pakistan took “strong” decisions like declaring ceasefire on the Line of Control and the resumption of air links and overflights.

“It was our magnanimity, it was our spirit of developing confidence for the sake of peace and for the sake of harmony in the relations,” he said while pointing out that India lost “heavily” due to Pakistan’s ban on Indian overflights.

Pakistan would encourage the recent “rapprochement and thaw and we will go more than half the way to encourage it. This is my message to the Indians,” he was quoted as saying by the official media.

General Musharraf said he looked forward to addressing the issue of moving ahead from this “good start” when Mr Vajpayee visited Pakistan “because we are at a start point and this is a beginning.”

The Pakistan President expressed confidence that in the recent ceasefire and other measures, a stage had been set for a meeting between him and Mr Vajpayee to set the tone for the resumption of a composite dialogue.

“We want peace with honour and dignity, and with reality and sincerity. We want to address all issues, including the Kashmir dispute, that is what we are looking for.”