Pakistan Foreign Minister said his country was ready to exercise the political will as it believes that peace is in the interest of both the nations.
ISLAMABAD: Insisting that the stage has come for dispute resolution with India, Pakistan on Tuesday said a "lot of progress" has been made on the Kashmir issue and an agreement can be clinched "relatively soon" given the political will.
As the two countries launched the fourth round of composite dialogue, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said his country was ready to exercise the political will as it believes that peace between the two countries is in the interest of both the nations.
He emphasized that there could be early resolution to Siachen and Sir Creek given the political will.
"Now the stage has come for resolution of all disputes," Kasuri said in an interview here adding that it would require the "political will".
Referring to the Kashmir issue, he said "a lot of progress" has been achieved on it and hoped that the progress would be "exposed soon. Let us wait till the final agreement. It can be done relatively soon given the political will."
He underlined that the progress has been achieved through back-channel talks.
"In my opinion, we have made a lot of progress. Further progress will depend on political will," Kasuri said, adding it takes "two to tango".
He said progress made on Kashmir issue was reflected by some of the recent statements made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"If we have been meeting for four years, we must have been discussing issues, we must have looked at all issues. Had there been a dead-end, we would not be talking," the Pakistan Foreign Minister said.
After three years of talking, people were asking what the two sides were discussing, he said adding that the stage had come for "conflict resolution" from confidence building measures.
He said progress had been made on disputes and clinching of the agreement would require political will on both sides.
"We are ready to exercise the political will," he said but observed that it comes at a "cost" which one has to bear.
He said that his government was convinced that peace and improvement of relations with India was in the interest of Pakistan and it was ready to bear the "political cost".
He said a resolution of Kashmir should be "win-win-win" situation wherein India, Pakistan and Kashmiris are satisfied.
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