Pakistan wants Kashmir to be dialogue's core issue

Islamabad: Kashmir should be the core issue of secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, the Pakistani Foreign Office has said.

Though no dates have been finalised yet, a source told Dawn News that Islamabad proposed June 24-25 for the talks.

India is yet to respond to the proposal, the source said.

"Jammu and Kashmir is the core issue and it was imperative to address this issue effectively and in a purposeful manner in the forthcoming dialogue with India," the Foreign Office statement said on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao "are to discuss" Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security and friendly exchanges between the two countries at the meeting, the sources said.

Senior Pakistani officials said they were not very optimistic about the meeting.

"We are cognizant that despite our desire to have a result-oriented process, it can't happen in one interaction," an unnamed official said.