Earlier, Mr Kasuri virtually accused India of going through the motions, advised that it was time for boldness and courage, hinted at Pakistan’s unhappiness on the perceived “open-ended” nature of the peace talks and suggested the remedy: “It is time to fix things.”

Mr Kasuri came out with a four-page statement in Islamabad before emplaning for New Delhi and harped on the K-word which prompted an equally strong reaction from a livid Ministry of External Affairs.

On a day when the two countries’ Foreign Secretaries met here for agenda-setting talks, the Pakistani Foreign Minister said: “It is regrettable that we have not been able to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has, in the past, kept us in a state of tension and flux. All along, the question before us has been very simple. We should give the Kashmiris the choice to determine their own future. This choice should have been given to them in August, 1947. But 57 years later, we are still at the starting line.”

“Our dialogue should be guided by the compass of results. We must know where we are going. And as we press ahead, we should manage our time well and relate it to our goals.

It is time that we refuse to go through the motions, and through the familiar cyclical pattern of peaks and troughs, dialogue and conflict. It is time to fix things... We should not accept inordinate delays.”

Mr Kasuri also said that this was not a dialogue that was taking place between governments only and roped in Kashmir in this context. “The media, academia, civil societies, and, above all, people of Pakistan, India and Kashmir, are participants and stakeholders in this dialogue.”

Earlier in the day, the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan, Mr Shyam Saran and Mr Riaz H. Khokhar, met to review the progress in the Composite Dialogue.

A Joint Press Statement issued at the end of the meeting said: “They assessed positively the discussions held on the eight subjects in the Composite Dialogue i.e. Peace and Security, including CBMs, Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, Terrorism and Drug Trafficking, Economic and Commercial Cooperation and Promotion of Friendly Exchanges in Various Fields. The Foreign Secretaries agreed that the discussions had been productive and had taken place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. Several useful ideas and suggestions were made by both sides.”

Meanwhile, hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani today met Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri here.

Geelani, who recently floated Tehreek-e-Hurriyat organisation after splitting Hurriyat Conference, was closetted with Kasuri for more than three hours. He was accompanied by People’s League leader Sheikh Aziz, who allied with Geelani just a week back.

The hardline leader, who enjoys full backing of Islamabad, is understood to have impressed upon Kasuri to do more on involving Kashmiris in the dialogue process.