Ties with India improving: Kasuri

Islamabad, Sep 7: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that his country's ties with India are improving.

''Pakistan-India relations have not been normal since independence, but ties are improving,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan quoted him as saying.

He said both the countries remained in a serious stand-off for ten months in 2001, but due to their even power balance, war was averted.

''Confidence Building Measures have improved Pak-India relations, but the Kashmir issue is still not resolved,'' he added.

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan was playing an important role in the war on terror. There was no external pressure on Pakistan to participate in the war on terror but it fought against terrorism for the country's national interest, he added.

''The Pakistani forces have suffered the highest-ever loss as they are facing a difficult situation in the region,'' he said.

The minister said there was disturbance in North and South Waziristan, but the security forces were making efforts to curb extremism as it had defamed the country, adding that over 100,000 troops were deployed along the Pak-Afghan border.

''The loss of Pakistani soldiers is more than the US-led forces' combined loss in Afghanistan. More Pakistani troops are deployed along the Pak-Afghan border then the number of foreign troops inside Afghanistan,'' Mr Kasuri added.

About Pak-US relations, the minister said ''Pakistan has harmonious relations and both the countries are sharing intelligence according to an agreed mechanism.'' ''Pakistan's coastline is the shortest sea trade route for China and other countries in the region,''he said. ''Central Asia, China, India and Iran are important neighbours of Pakistan since they have 60 per cent of the world's population.''

UNI