Mainstream political parties in Pakistan have asked the government to permit the return of former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharief to forge national unity.

At a meeting of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy in Islamabad on Friday night, its leader Nawabzada Nasurullah Khan also asked the government to discuss all initiatives to improve ties with India in Parliament and not to bypass it.

Stating that national unity was the need of the hour, Khan asked government to permit Bhutto and Sharief to return as they were leaders who could inspire confidence among the masses.

Commenting on the just concluded visit of United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, the ARD leader said Armitage asserted that the US has exposed the 'failure' of the foreign policy pursued by President Pervez Musharraf.

He said Armitage has openly refused to accept Kashmir as a core dispute between the two neighbours and claimed that Washington has been exerting pressure on Islamabad to yield to the Indian position on Kashmir.