Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said yesterday there could be no chance of "meaningful" talks with Pakistan until normality is restored in disputed Kashmir state.
Speaking to reporters in Jammu, the inter capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, Vajpayee acknowledged, however, that there had been progress in the peace process with Pakistan, although it has been proceeding slowly.
"[On Thursday], whatever happened, shows that there is no normalcy," he said, referring to an attack on a hotel in the northern Kashmir city of Srinagar by at least one Islamic militant that left four people dead.
"It was asked why talks are not starting and you yourself are saying that terrorist attacks are taking place," Vajpayee said.
He added: "In so many years, the Kashmir problem has not been resolved. How can it happen instantly? Talks have not even begun. People are dying in terrorist violence. How can you have meaningful talks now?"
India and Pakistan have begun a tentative peace process since Vajpayee on April 18 offered a "hand of friendship" to Islamabad.
Full diplomatic relations have been restored and bus services between the two countries resumed, but talks on restoring air links have stalled.
Vajpayee, on the last leg of a three-day visit to Indian Kashmir, said India was ready for a ceasefire in Kashmir, which has for the past 14 years been in the grip of an Islamic insurgency in which some 38,000 people have been killed. Separatists say the toll is between 80,000 and 100,000.
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