India and Pakistan have made 'unprecedented' progress on the Kashmir issue, Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri has said while maintaining that no solution would be acceptable to Islamabad until it was agreeable to the Kashmiris.

Kasuri said his government would resolve the Kashmir issue with consensus in Pakistan and take all decisions in the national interest and any proposed agreement would be discussed in the cabinet and taken to Parliament for debate.      

"We have made unprecedented progress towards solving the Kashmir issue in the last three years. Both countries should adopt realistic approach and solve all issues," Kasuri said at a seminar by Pakistan Thinkers Forum in Lahore on Sunday.

Defending backchannel diplomacy, Kasuri said there was nothing unusual about secret talks but no solution would be acceptable to Pakistan until it was acceptable to Kashmiris.

"Every single word is cleared by Foreign Office and even every comma and full stop in the draft (on possible solutions to the Kashmir issue) is cleared by it. I would never advocate something that I don't believe in," he said.

Kasuri said settlement of the Kashmir issue was in the interest of both the countries as they had reached a conclusion after 30 years of hostilities that talks were the only way out.

On the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline (IPI), he said Pakistan will be guided by national interest despite US objections. "There will be no compromise on Pakistan's national interest. Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is in our interest. Pakistan does not accepted pressure from any quarter," he said.

On the US demand to hand over disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, Kasuri said the scientist who is detained at home would not be handed over to anyone.

"All decisions are made in Islamabad and we will not accept any pressure in this regard. The US has not been kind on us. It has its own interests and priorities," he said.

Significantly on Afghanistan, Kasuri said Pakistan made 'all possible' efforts to stop Taliban infiltration and it can not do anything more.

"Pakistan is making all possible efforts for checking the infiltration of unauthorised persons into Afghanistan. It can not do more than what it is doing right now," he said, adding that Pakistan was against military action on Iran and wanted everything to be settled through talks.

"All rulers were not fools that they decided to side with the US. Liaquat Ali Khan received an invitation from Moscow but preferred to visit Washington. It was in Pakistan's interest. All successive governments kept on following the same policy. There was some wisdom in doing that," Kasuri said.

Former Pakistan Army Chief and former Ambassador to United States Jehangir Karamat said US and India were not friends and strategic partners in the past but now that they are, Pakistan will have to live with it.

"India worked on it for at least a decade. In early 1990s, it recognised Israel and then won the support of Jewish lobby in the USA. India has a consistent policy and worked hard for this partnership," he said.

"The US sees India as a regional power and a potential global power. It sees India as an asset in its war on terror and nuclear proliferation," he said.

Karamat said India would continue to use leverage of its partnership with the USA to put pressure on Pakistan and exploit the situation of turmoil in Pakistan. He said the ragtag Taliban movement had now turned into a Pashtun movement and drug money was being used to strengthen it.

"Whether they are from our areas or Afghanistan the Pashtuns have formed this movement. India is more comfortable with the Northern Alliance," the former COAS said.

On US's nuclear deal with India, Karamat said it was for the first time that it had done it. "But we should be concerned about the boost that nuclear energy will give to India. But the internal situation of India is being overlooked. Poverty, violence in Kashmir, caste system and many other factors need to be taken into account," he said.