Islamabad: Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said, Kashmir is key issue amongst outstanding issues between Pakistan and India.

Talking to state-run Pakistan Television, Sartaj Aziz said Kashmir has to be part of any composite dialogue between Pakistan and India.

He said, if Kashmir was not an issue then why 700,000 Indian troops have been deployed in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He said terrorism, which India has been stressing on, was included in the eight-point composite dialogue process.

The National Security Adviser said, Pakistan is an atomic power and has the capability to defend its territory.

Sartaj said, Pakistan believes Kashmir has to be part of the agenda for any talks. “No serious dialogue with India is possible, unless Kashmir is on the agenda. This is a reality that India has to recognize. It cannot wish away that this is not an issue,” Aziz said.

To a question he said that the political leadership and people of Pakistan were committed to support Kashmiris and their right to self- determination. He said India also needed stabilization in the region for its economic progress.

Sartaj Aziz said whole the world recognized the way Pakistan took its stance over issue of terrorism but India instead of recognizing its efforts starts blame game every time without providing any concrete evidence.

“No country has taken such stern action against terrorism as Pakistan did”, he stated. To another question he said Indian media has tendency to propagate the issues without strong evidences.

He hoped that political leadership of India will definitely pay attention to the side effects of the cancellation of these dialogues.

He said that it is not only in the interest of one country to have better relations with the other, this is need of both the countries.

He has asked the international community to take notice of the cancellation of talks by India with Pakistan.