Describing as a "positive development" Home Minister P Chidambaram's recent remarks that Indian government would like the paramilitary forces to play only a secondary role in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has said this would help build the right environment for resuming the composite dialogue.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi yesterday welcomed Chidambaram's statement of June 11 and termed it as "a positive development," local daily 'Dawn' reported on Wednesday.

Chidambaram had attended the Unified Headquarters meeting in Srinagar on June 11 during which a decision was taken to soon launch an exercise with the aim of seeing the J and K police don a primary role and gradually replace the CRPF.

The Home Minister had said "we would like to take small, baby steps one by one and no great leap in Kashmir."

Reacting to Chidambaram's remarks, Qureshi said that was what Pakistan had been calling on India to do all along. This would help in building the right kind of environment for resuming the composite dialogue stalled since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and "it would also mean a great deal for the people of Kashmir," he said in London, where he stopped over on way back home after attending G-8 ministers' meet in Italy.

During the Italy meet, Qureshi said he and his Afghan counterpart presented their respective points of view on the situation currently obtaining in "our area."

"I also met the Indian Foreign Minister (S M Krishna) on the sidelines," he was quoted as saying by the daily.