Pakistan "cannot ignore Kashmir" during talks with India: Basit

Islamabad, Jan 3(ANI): Pakistan cannot ignore the Kashmir issue while having bilateral talks with India, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit has said.

"We cannot ignore Kashmir while talking with India, and we also do not want a cosmetic visit for solo photo session without pre-agreed upon agenda," The Nation quoted Basit, as saying on Sunday.

In an interview with a news agency, Indian Minister for External Affairs SM Krishna had said that he looked forward to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's visit to India, but did not mention the date of visit.

Basit was also not able to give out any schedule for Qureshi's visit to the neighbouring country, saying that it was not possible to confirm even the visit to the place without an agreement on the agenda.

He said Qureshi would visit India in response to his Indian counterpart Krishna's invitation only if Islamabad and New Delhi agree on a comprehensive and meaningful agenda of bilateral talks.

"Our Foreign Minister would like to visit but only if the two countries could agree on a comprehensive agenda of his meeting with Indian counterpart including Kashmir," he maintained. (ANI)