LAHORE, Feb 20: Former foreign minister Sartaj Aziz says the war hysteria in India after the Mumbai attacks proved that nuclear power is effective in checking aggression.

Speaking at a seminar on Pakistan-India Peace and Responsibilities of the Media here on Friday, he said the Mumbai incident had turned hostile the public opinion in India against Pakistan making it difficult to hold composite dialogue with New Delhi at the same level that was prevailing before the Kargil episode.

He said since India had gone far ahead of Pakistan in economic and diplomatic fields during the last 10 years, it would take time to come down to the status it was earlier holding during talks with Pakistan.

Former foreign secretary Sheharyar Khan said the Musharraf formula for solving the decades-old Kashmir dispute did not have the popular support.

He said Pakistan had to be strong on economic, political, diplomatic and military fronts if it wanted to settle issues with India.

Jugnoo Mohsin, managing director of a local weekly, regretted that a few officials in Indian state institutions had a positive approach and realized the importance of Pakistan-India peaceful relations.