By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 13. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has said that India would like to build trust and put in place a stable structure of cooperation, addressing all outstanding issues with Pakistan.

In an interview to the Pakistani daily, Dawn, the Prime Minister has said he believed that `a movement across the full range of relations' between India and Pakistan would provide for the welfare of the people of both the countries.

Besides Dawn, the Prime Minister gave written interviews to representatives of three other Pakistani publications on Thursday. All the four representatives were invited over a cup of tea and handed over the answers.

In response to a specific question from the Dawn Resident Editor, the Prime Minister has said that he firmly believed that both India and Pakistan would greatly benefit from the establishment of good neighbourly relations.

``Economic development, social justice, poverty alleviation and accessible facilities for health care, education and shelter are legitimate aspirations for both countries'', Mr. Vajpayee told the paper.

In a separate interview to the Urdu daily, The Jang, the Prime Minister has said the environment in Asia is entirely different than that in Europe and that is why Asia would have to create its own security network keeping in view the political, military, economic and cultural realities.

The Prime Minister told another English daily The News that instead of digging the past, India and Pakistan would have to concentrate on an objective future. He said, ``we would take innovative measures to bring peace and prosperity in South Asia''.

He strongly denied the impression that the invitation to Gen. Musharraf was extended under U.S. pressure and said that Americans had admitted that the invitation had taken them by surprise.

The Prime Minister said if India and Pakistan initiated peaceful and sincere talks, all issues including the Kashmir issue would not be unresolved. ``The humanity (insaniat), which is beyond laws, religious lines and gains and losses, should be the basis of resolving any difficult problem,'' he added. He said the option of laying of the Iranian gas pipeline through Pakistan was not given up, adding that various alternative options were under consideration and finally that option which was cheaper and secure would be approved.

During the interview, he repeatedly said that India and Pakistan should have good neighbourly relations and asked ``if it is necessary, why should it not be done now?'' However, he refused to answer a question why he delayed so much the invitation to Gen. Musharraf and confined himself to saying, ``concentrating on future will be more objective than digging the past''.

He also refused to give a direct answer to the question whether he would seek Gen. Musharraf's support to get a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council.