Pak says satisfied with Zardari-Singh meeting

Pakistan expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but said lasting peace could not be achieved in the region till the 'core issue' of Kashmir is settled.

Pakistan on Thursday expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but said lasting peace could not be achieved in the region till the "core issue" of Kashmir is settled.

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Listing the "tangible outcomes" of the parleys between Zardari and Singh on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Russia, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the two countries had decided on future meetings of their Foreign Secretaries and political leadership.

"The outcome of the meeting was satisfactory as the two Foreign Secretaries will meet in the future. We hope they will be able to look at all issues (between the two countries)," Basit said.

Pakistan had not been expecting the Zardari-Singh meeting to lead to immediate resumption of composite dialogue, stalled following the Mumbai terror attacks, Basit told a weekly news briefing, responding to a question about Islamabad's expectations from the meeting on Tuesday.

He said Kashmir remained a "core issue" that needs to be settled for viable and lasting peace between India and Pakistan and in South Asia, emphasising the need for a "fair and just settlement" in line with aspirations of the Kashmiri people.