A day after India and Pakistan made fresh peace overtures, Islamabad on Tuesday said it was ready to do whatever it can to reduce tensions between the two countries if Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee pays a state visit here.
Referring to the telephonic conversation Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it cautioned that there were elements on both sides who were out to sabotage normalisation of ties.
"The Prime Minister (Jamali) extended an invitation to Vajpayee to visit Pakistan. I hope he will do so quickly and if he does come he will receive a warm welcome and we will do all we can to help reducing tensions between two countries," Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Muhammad Kasuri said.
He hoped the two countries would be third time lucky to kickstart a new peace process after Lahore and Agra efforts.
"It is incumbent on the leadership of the two countries to try and make sure that this time their talks lead to some concrete results, as they say in English, third time lucky. May be after Lahore and Agra it will be lucky this time," Kasuri told Voice of America radio while welcoming Jamali's last night phone call to Vajpayee.
Kasuri said that after Jamali's telephone talks with Vajpayee, the Indian prime minister should quickly respond to his invitation to visit Pakistan at the earliest.
He said leaders and people of India and Pakistan should be cautious about attempts to sabotage new peace process. "Now as far as future is concerned, my first comment is that people on both sides must beware of people who will try and derail relations between the two countries."
Kasuri said there were a 'lot of people' on both sides of the borders who may not be happy with peace prevailing between the two countries. "People generally of the two countries should remember that there have been three wars between them and... a fourth one will be completely catastrophic for both countries. So there is really no option but to go for a sustained meaningful and a composite dialogue because that is the only way you lower temperatures in subcontinent and draw some investment."
On Vajpayee's charges about cross-border terrorism, Kasuri declined to give a direct answer.
"You see there are always two ways of looking at things. You can look at things positively and you can look at things negatively, the glass is either half full or half empty. I can prefer to look at it as half full. Now I do not wish to respond to a statement of that nature," he said, adding all such issues could be resolved if Vajpayee visits Islamabad.
Kasuri said the fact that the leaders of the two countries established telephone contacts after an 18 months' delay was a positive development. "Vajpayee appreciated this contact between the two prime ministers and agreed to remain in touch with each other and the conversation was in a most cordial atmosphere so let's hope it leads to better things in future."
Kasuri said that because he attached 'very highest' importance to normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan he has not reacted to some of the 'belligerent' statements made by Indian leaders.
