India and Pakistan are involved in back channel diplomacy to explore possibilities to resolve the Kashmir issue, Pakistan's Minister for Kashmir Affairs Faisal Saleh Hayat has said.

Though both countries have not initiated a secret dialogue on Kashmir, they were involved back channel diplomacy to find a solution to the issue, he said.

'Back channel diplomacy is sometimes necessary, especially when governments face difficulties in reaching a final solution to sensitive issues,' Hayat was quoted as saying by The News.

'You may call it back channel (diplomacy) or Track Two or anything else, but it is always necessary for reaching a solution to the important and sensitive issues between the two countries,' he said.

To a question, he said India had taken the Kashmiri leadership on board to find a solution to the vexed issue and stressed that the process should move ahead more rapidly.

Hayat stated that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have a conviction that they will get the issue settled in a specific timeframe.

About the general elections scheduled next year in Pakistan, he said there was no legal hindrance to holding the polls before the announced schedule if the government was willing to do so.

'Whenever the government feels feasible, it may hold elections in the country before the time and there is no legal hindrance to it,' he said.