"Even if there is a delay in initiation of a dialogue (between New Delhi and Islamabad), there is no need to make Saarc hostage to India-Pakistan problems," he told reporters at Hotel Sheraton.

The Pakistan foreign minister expressed his country's willingness to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Bangladesh to enhance bilateral economic cooperation.

Kasuri, on a three-day visit to Dhaka, handed over an official invitation to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to attend the Saarc summit in Islamabad next January.

He said, "Regional grouping is absolutely essential for economic development of South Asia."

He noted that the Saarc charter does not allow any country to impose preconditions, and it also mandates that there should be one meeting of the heads of state every year.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan, however, said there is indication from New Delhi that the Indian prime minister and foreign minister will attend the Pakistan summit.

Referring to the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir, Kasuri said both the neighbouring countries had so far fought three full-scale wars, three "mini-wars", and "one near-war" last year.

Asked about the hiding of Osama bin Laden in western Pakistan, the foreign minister said if he (Laden) was there, the CIA would have known it as the US intelligence agency is working closely with Pakistan's ISI along that border.

About the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh, Kasuri said Pakistan had fulfilled its international obligation by taking back her nationals. But, on humanitarian grounds, Pakistan can go further than international obligation. About Pakistan's support to Bangladesh's candidature for OIC secretary general, he said Islamabad had already extended support to Dhaka, as both the countries want to see the OIC as a dynamic organisation.

Earlier, following a meeting with Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman at his secretariat office, he sought a free-trade agreement with Dhaka,

"We have the political will," he told newsmen.

The FTA framework will be decided at the commerce ministry-level talks soon, he said. Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury is scheduled to visit Pakistan on September 20.

Kasuri noted that the FTA would not be dealt with diplomatically, rather the two countries would try to bring all bilateral issues under the cover of the proposed free-trade accord.

Bangladesh suffers a trade deficit with Pakistan -- the gap being about $14 million, by last fiscal's count, when Bangladesh exports earned $16 million against import payments of $30 million to Pakistan.