The issue was raised by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special envoy Khursheed Mehmood, during talks with his Russian counterpart Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General Alexander Losyukov.

Russia made it clear to Kasuri that ``proceeding from the desirability of resolving disputed issues through peaceful means, the Russian side would be prepared in future to render possible help in this, if a necessity for the same were to arise and if both the sides were to make corresponding address (to Russia),'' a Foreign Ministry statement said.

During the talks, Russia once again expressed ``serious concern'' over the continuing tension in Kashmir, caused what it said, by the infiltration of armed groups across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

Kasuri, a member of the Pakistan National Assembly, travelled to Moscow to hand over a letter from Sharif to President BorisYeltsin.

Details of the letter were not available. But the Foreign Ministry statement said that the letter dealt with the ``issue of the situation regarding the LoC in Kashmir.''

The statement warned that ``any violation of the LoC between Pakistan and India is fraught with unpredictable consequences which carry threat to peace and stability in the whole of the South Asian region.''

The Russian side told Kasuri that ``resolution of the present conflict situation on the LoC in Kashmir'' was possible, ``only through the restoration of status quo ante'' alongside the LoC, and ``resumption of constructive political dialogue'' between the two countries, the statement said.

It also urged Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir problem on a bilateral basis, in line with the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration.

Kasuri's list of interlocutors included, among others, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev and Duma Foreign Affairs committee head Vladimir Lukin.

However, all ofthem were out of Moscow. So, he could meet only with Nikolai Stolyarov, one of the deputy heads of the Foreign Affairs committee of the Duma.

A spokesman for the Duma Foreign Affairs committee denied reports in Pakistan press that a Duma delegation was willing to offer its services for the resolution of the Kashmir problem.