Pakistan will get rid of its nuclear arsenal if rival India does as well, a Pakistani official said Monday. "As far as Pakistan is concerned, if India is ready to denuclearize, we would be happy to denuclearize," Foreign Ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said. "But it will have to be mutual." India's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Khan's remarks. New Delhi has said before that its nuclear program is not driven by Pakistan alone. Pakistan and India declared themselves nuclear powers after detonating atomic bombs in 1998. They have not opened their arsenals to international inspectors and it is not known exactly how many weapons they have. The two South Asian neighbors have fought three wars since British rule of the subcontinent ended in 1947. Two of those wars have been over the disputed Kashmir region, which is divided between both nations but still claimed by both in its entirety. Last week, India and Pakistan said they would hold their first diplomatic talks in two years. They also agreed to appoint new ambassadors and restore civil air links. No date has been set for the new talks, but Pakistani officials have said they will occur soon. Khan said Pakistan "received a positive response" to its proposal last week that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee pay a visit. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said Vajpayee sent a letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Saturday saying the two sides must prepare carefully to make the talks useful. The international community fears that the dispute between India and Pakistan could lead to nuclear confrontation, and has pressed the two to hold peace talks. Jamali planned to consult later Monday with leaders of Pakistan's resurgent Islamic conservatives and middle-of-the road parties, which have backed talks. India's government, however, is being pressured not to enter talks until separatists in mostly Muslim Kashmir end their insurgency, which began in 1989 and has killed more than 61,000 people. India says Pakistan provides financial support to the Kashmiri Muslim fighters, a charge Pakistan denies. "There is no use talking to Pakistan when they continue to aid infiltration and insurgency," Subash Desai, general secretary of Shiv Sena, a party in the national coalition government, said Monday. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, left, inspects a guard of honor outside the civil secretariat on the first working day of state government in Srinagar, Monday May 5, 2003. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)