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Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri has said the continuation of dialogue between India and Pakistan would help in resolving conflicts. Kasuri said the governments of both countries need to show the political will to find a solution to the issues, which prove to be a thaw in relations between the two nations. "Continue to talk is much better than absence of talks and if you don't talk things can only deteriorate, if you talk they will progress. I think there have been positive developments also in the realm of trade and I can speak on the basis of experience that I had, that even on conflict resolution a lot of progress was made during our time," Kasuri told mediapersons in Lahore on Thursday. "But for that I think you probably need much greater will power, political will, which unfortunately doesn't seem to be demonstrated currently. I think both the countries face problems today and more in political terms," he added. Talking about Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Kasuri said India would have to provide evidences that are admissible in Pakistani courts. "Nobody is being spared by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, not even the intelligence agencies, if you follow Pakistani news. So, to say, so and so could get scot-free is, even if the government wanted to take action; it cannot in violation of court orders. So, the best thing that can be done under the circumstances is to satisfy the requirements of Pakistani law of evidence," he said. Kasuri, however, said that majority of people in Pakistan are unhappy with the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and added that there was a change in the opinion of people towards India. "One thing that there was some problem about the evidence that would be admissible in Pakistani courts and that is necessary and that be done. I can tell you that there is a lot of sympathy for victims of Mumbai in Pakistan and nobody in Pakistan, no right thinking person, I will say over whelming majority of people in Pakistan are very unhappy with what happened in Mumbai," said Kasuri. "It can happen in any city in the world. If it happened in India, it can happen in Pakistan, so nobody approves of that. That is one side of it and I think there is a major change in public opinion," he added. Kasuri further said Pakistan need to take stringent steps to combat militancy within the country as it posed a serious obstruction in the development of the country. "We need to do much more for our own selves, not just for improvement of relations with India because we are the primary victims of terrorism. So, we need to do much more and more comprehensively that's not just because of what is happening between Pakistan and India, it is what's happening to Pakistan," said Kasuri. "So, many innocent lives are being lost and even the security agencies are being attacked. These days nothing is a secret, we have a major problem," he added. Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna is presently on a three-day visit to Pakistan during which he will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar. This is Krishna's second visit to Pakistan since 2010.

Former Pak FM backs dialogue with India