'Settling 'Kashmir' imperative for lasting peace'

Welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposal for a peace treaty with Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has said that the settlement of the Kashmir problem was imperative for durable and lasting friendship between the two countries.

Musharraf told new Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal, after receiving his credentials on Tuesday,

that Pakistan wanted to settle all outstanding issues with India with sincerity, an online news agency reported. 

The Pakistan President said the two 'important' countries in South Asia should work jointly for the cause of peace and stability in the region. The need of the hour was the confidence building measures and composite dialogue process to go hand in hand as one without the other would be an exercise in futility, he said.