Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said an energy corridor from Iran to India via Pakistan will be a "significant confidence-building measure" between Islamabad and New Delhi.

"Many in the think-tank circles (here) see the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline from this perspective. We hope the US administration (too) will see it similarly," Kasuri said during his address to the Brookings Institution Thursday.

"This is (only) one of the three projects - the others being the Turkmenistan-Pakistan pipeline and the Qatar-Pakistan-India pipeline," he said.

"Another challenge is the improvement of relations with India and the resolution of outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. A promising start has been made. People to people contacts have improved."

According to him, "Economic and cultural exchanges have increased. We are glad the Indian leadership has reciprocated our efforts. We intend to pursue this path. This would, of course, involve addressing substantive issues in a meaningful way."

Kasuri described the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service as a "win-win situation for all the parties (involved in the Kashmir dispute), especially the Kashmiris who have long suffered deprivation".

"For durable peace between Pakistan and India, the issue of Kashmir needs to be resolved. For this to happen, the people of Kashmir have to be involved," he said.

"Kashmir has bedevilled relations for 57 years. We must take pains to see that no new issues come up. I am specifically referring to the Baglihar and Kishanganga projects that India plans. These are emerging serious issues."

"The resultant peace and security in South Asia will allow diversion of resources towards addressing poverty, illiteracy and disease," he said.