External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee said that India would resolve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue and would not accept any third party mediation. Commenting on the stance likely to be taken by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Kashmir issue and tax breaks, the minister said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and both countries are discussing it according to the Shimla Accord and the Lahore agreement. He, however, declined to comment on the tax issues.

He said that the global financial crisis would impact both economy and development. He asked for adequate strategy to deal with recession so that employment generation, poverty alleviation and growth would not derail. Pranab Mukherjee.

He was, here, in Delhi for a curtain-raiser session on the BIMSTEC Summit organized by Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Centre for Studies in International Relations and Development.

He hailed the BIMSTEC initiative between Bay of Bengal countries including India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan for regional peace and progress. West Bengal CM, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also stressed the need of co-operation between developing countries for regional co-operation.