ISLAMABAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri Thursday called for avoiding statements that could prove counterproductive to the ongoing dialogue process between Islamabad and New Delhi, accor ding to the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

    "The Pak-Indo relations are at a very delicate stage at the moment that required careful nurturing through avoidance of statements which could prove counterproductive to the ongoing dialogue process," Kasuri said while talking to APP in Islamabad.     

    Kasuri was responding to Indian Prime Minister's Manmohan Singh's recent statements in which Singh was reported to have said that Kashmir was an "integral part of India" and that there could be noredrawing of borders between the two neighbors.

    "Statements of this nature caused disappointment among those people in Pakistan and India who are in favor of lasting peace in South Asia," Kasuri said.

    Kasuri recalled that Pakistan had stated, time and again, that it was prepared to show flexibility but it could not be unilateral.

    He further said that controversial statements could also strengthen the hands of extremists in both countries who were not happy with the Pak-Indo dialogue progress that had been achieved so far.

    Kasuri hoped that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's coming visit to India and his meetings with his counterpart Singh would lead to further strengthening of the peace process.

    Kasuri also recalled that President Pervez Musharraf and Singh had an excellent meeting in New York in September. "One witnessed great personal chemistry between them indicating that they would trust each other to bring about durable peace in South Asia," he noted.

    In the context of that atmosphere, Kasuri said he was unable tounderstand why it was necessary to say things that could have a negative and a dampening impact on the enthusiasm of the people of Pakistan and India and the Kashmiris across the Line of Control. Enditem