ISLAMABAD: Noting that the composite dialogue process with India facilitated confidence-building measures, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said the time has now come to move from 'conflict management to conflict resolution.'

The composite dialogue process has helped ease tension and facilitated confidence-building measures, including greater people-to-people contacts, he said addressing a symposium on 'Common Security and Global War on Terror' here at the National Defence University.

"The time has now come to move from conflict management to conflict resolution," Aziz said, adding President Pervez Musharraf has put forward fresh ideas for out of the box thinking leading to a solution to the Kashmir issue. "We are convinced that a durable Kashmir settlement must be based on the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people."

Aziz said it is necessary for all parties involved to show courage, determination and flexibility to evolve such a solution.

He claimed that Pakistan's nuclear deterrent has ensured peace in the sub-continent and its nuclear doctrine is based on minimum credible deterrence.

Asserting that Pakistan rejects an arms race in strategic or conventional weapons in the neighbourhood, Aziz said Islamabad has proposed a Strategic Restraint Regime to India designed to prevent horizontal and vertical proliferation of strategic and conventional weapon systems.

He said Pakistan's nuclear assets are managed under a Command and Control System and there is an effective regime to prevent leakage of nuclear material and technology.