Islamabad, Oct 02: President Pervez Musharraf today said Pakistan was not "desperate" to hold talks with India but at the same time hoped that US would step in to facilitate the dialogue and help Pakistan to acquire modern weapons to maintain military balance. "We are not desperate (for talks). New Delhi should come forward to start the talks process," he said while inaugurating Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad motorway near Rawalpindi.
He said Washington fully appreciated the situation between India and Pakistan and hoped it would help facilitate initiation of the dialogue process between Pakistan and India. He also expressed the hope that Pakistan would get defence equipment from the United States, to maintain a conventional arms balance between India and Pakistan.
"We have briefed the US leadership about Pakistan's defence requirement," he said referring to his recent meeting with President George W. Bush on the sidelines of UN General Assembly. On the Kashmir issue, he said he raised it at the United Nations and informed the world leaders and US President George W. Bush that Islamabad wants a dialogue process to start.
About reaching an understanding with the opposition to end the stalemate over his presidency and constitutional amendments, he said insistence by opposition that he should quit as chief of Army was no longer an issue as he accepted it in principle. He however declined to give a date by which he would quit the post. Bureau Report