NEW YORK, Sept 17: President Pervez Musharraf has declared that the Joint Statement issued after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana on Saturday was a victory for both sides and would augur well for the future of Indo-Pakistan relations.

Talking to the Pakistani media minutes after his arrival in New York on Saturday night, the president cautioned against claims of victory by any one side, saying it could create problems for the other side and derail the peace process.

Referring to his meeting with the Indian prime minister, he said it was “successful” and added: “I think peace process is the winner”.

Asked if any specific proposals were discussed on Kashmir, he said: “We did not go into the specifics of solutions but we did say that we need to narrow down divergences and facilitate or increase the convergence.”

In this context, he pointed to the willingness on both sides to discuss and resolve all bilateral disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir.

“The realisation of narrowing down differences and strengthening of convergences is the way forward. It sets a direction forward,” he noted and added: “But we didn’t discuss the modalities of a solution.”

On the timeframe for foreign secretaries-level talks between Pakistan and India, he said: “They are to be held very expeditiously. We haven’t fixed the dates but they will be held very soon.”

To another question regarding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Pakistan, the president said: “I have again invited him and he is keen on visiting Pakistan and we both are very keen that the visit should be substantive.”

BUSH MEETING: President Musharraf stated that in his meeting with US President George W. Bush in Washington that two specific issues would figure prominently: the peace deal with the grand jirga in North Waziristan and the women’s rights protection bill. He said there were certain “misperceptions and apprehensions” regarding these issues which needed to be explained.

“These are the two issues which basically we are going to discuss and project in the correct light,” he told a questioner.

He dispelled the notion that the government was trying to backtrack on the women’s bill and said that the government was trying to develop consensus on it. Similarly, on the peace deal, he said there was an erroneous impression in the western world that Pakistan was backing out from its struggle against terrorism.

President Musharraf ruled out the possibility of a peace deal with the Taliban and clarified that the accord in North Waziristan had been reached with tribal elders and not with the Taliban.

On the war against terrorism, he underscored the need to move beyond military options and also address the root causes. Asserting that the military route achieved only two things, buying time and creating an environment, he said once that was done political elements should take over for the resolution of the root causes. “I think the time is now ripe and we must go for political resolutions of the root causes,” he observed.