ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday said Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was willing to have “meaningful” and “comprehensive” dialogue with Pakistan exclusively on the basis of peaceful means.

“In the meantime I emphasised, to President Musharraf as I did to Prime Minister Vajpayee, the desire of the UK and the international community to see the current tensions reduced,” the British prime minister said at a joint press conference with President Gen Pervez Musharraf at Aiwan-i-Sadar.

Mr Blair, who arrived here from New Delhi this afternoon on the last leg of his visit to South Asia, laid equal emphasis on the initiation of dialogue process between Pakistan and India for resolving the Kashmir dispute and addressing the issue of terrorism.

Mr Blair, who spoke to President George Bush earlier in the day, said they had complete unanimity of views that the terrorist attacks, such as those of the Oct 1 on state assembly in Srinagar and of the Dec 13 on Indian parliament, should be condemned.

“We should be resolute in our total rejection of acts of terrorism such as those occurring on Oct 1 and Dec 13, and also clear that there should be a process of dialogue for the resolution of disputes such as Kashmir,” he said.

He maintained that nobody should underestimate the difficulties in resolving issues like Kashmir but added in the same breath that the dangers involved in increasing of tensions should also be kept in mind.

He hoped that a situation could be brought about which would allow de-escalation of the present tensions.

“I hope and believe that both countries in these difficult times would understand the need to defeat terrorism and to resolve difficult issues through dialogue,” he said, adding that it was in the interest of not just the two countries and its people but also the whole region and the wider world.

On a question whether President Musharraf had given him any assurance to take further action against organisations such as Jaish-i-Muhammad and Lashkar-i-Taiba, he pointed out that President Musharraf had given a very clear statement rejecting the acts of terrorism of Oct 1 and Dec 13.

He recalled that President Musharraf had stated that the organization involved in these acts had no place in any civilized society.

Earlier in his opening statement, he said: “Terrorism is terrorism, wherever it occurs.” The international community, he added, had shown in Afghanistan that the back of the terrorist organizations could be broken through the collective will.

“No matter what the political cause, there can be no justification for terrorist acts, whether those of the Sept 11 or of Oct 1 and Dec 13,” he said while welcoming the action taken by the Musharraf government against the terrorist organizations.

When asked point-blank whether those struggling for getting the UN resolutions implemented were terrorists, he said no matter how strongly people felt about the issue of Kashmir and although they were entitled to that (struggle), there could be no place for acts of terrorism. And here he again mentioned Oct 1 and Dec 13.

He also alluded to the example of Northern Ireland, saying eventually they realized that the issue could be resolved only through dialogue.

President Musharraf termed his talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Nepal useful to the extent the situation had not escalated further. He said the meeting had increased chances of initiation of a dialogue process in the future.

On a question whether Pakistan would withdraw its forces from the Durand Line, President Musharraf said Pakistan was fully conscious of its responsibilities on its western borders.

However, he hoped the tension on the eastern borders would not rise to the level that troops from the western borders would have to be withdrawn.

As regards measures being taken by the government to check militancy, he said a comprehensive plan had been hammered out to address this issue. He said he would unveil the plan in a televised address to the nation within the next few days.

He recalled that his government had initiated action against the sectarian and extremist organizations much before the Sept 11 terrorist attacks.

He pointed out that militant wings of two sectarian organizations had been banned on August 14 last year and two others had been placed on watch list.

On a question about the list of 20 alleged terrorists provided by India, President Musharraf said that they were analysing the list. However, he added that they would certainly like to have an evidence against each one of them.

The question about their extradition would be taken only after having analysed the situation, he added.

When asked about his assessment of the chances of war between the two countries, he said though there was a problem of trust and misunderstanding there could be a way out provided the people were very clear about two things.

Expounding further, he said people should be clear that Pakistan shared in general the condemnation of what happened on Oct 1 and Dec 1, and that the difficult issue of Kashmir could be resolved only through dialogue.

The news conference was delayed by about half an hour as both the leaders first held talks through their aides and later reportedly held one-to-one talks to work out what was termed “talking points” before the reporters.