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Rasheeda Bhagat

Islamabad , Feb. 19

EVEN though the grant of visa is a function of the Interior Ministry, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry will do all at its command to "encourage" it to grant as many visas as possible for Indians bound for Pakistan for the cricket series, says Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Mr Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.

In an interview to Business Line at the Foreign Office here on Thursday, a day after the conclusion of Foreign Secretary-level talks, he said that his Ministry has a "vested interest" in encouraging people-to-people level contact between the two countries.

"Personally I want the visa regime to be relaxed, because people visiting each other encourages the present peace process. So I have a stake in seeing that the visa restrictions are relaxed, and it will be done. We have said that everybody with a valid ticket for travel to Pakistan will be given a visa, and that promise shall be kept."

Brushing aside security concerns for the Indian cricketers, Mr Kasuri said that there have been fewer disturbances here than in many other countries of the world. "Think of the major incidents in sports in the last 10 years. They have occurred in European countries, particularly on the football grounds. Of course the Pakistan Government will make the best possible security arrangements for the series." Obviously happy and relaxed at a successful round of talks in Islamabad, Mr Kasuri exuded confidence that with both the countries having a "positive state of mind and the political will", the Indo-Pak peace process was on the right track.

On Kashmir, he refused to "jump the gun" but reiterated the need for involving the Kashmiris in the process. "This will contribute to Pakistan and India adopting flexible positions." Frowning on the use of the term "international pressure" having been the driving force behind the two countries coming to the negotiation table, he said: "The international community is interested that both Pakistan and India resolve all the issues. But neither country is a small country, we can't be pressured. "Pressure means that we are doing something against our own interest. Having peace with each other is not against our interest. So all that the international community, including the US, is doing is to encourage us to go along with the peace process."

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Indo-Pak peace process on right track: Kasuri

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