India is not in favour of linking resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue with a permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), sources said here today.

Commenting on reports about US President Barack Obama favouring a UNSC seat for India to the resolution of the Kashmir issue, the sources said these were two separate matters.

"There cannot be any link. These are two separate issues," the sources said.

The sources said India’s position on Jammu and Kashmir was "vocal" and this was an issue to be discussed by India and Pakistan.

They said India is a "credible candidate" for UNSC permanent membership and there had been global recognition since 1945 about United Nation’s expanded role reflecting the current global realities.

"India’s position on Jammu and Kashmir is vocal and undiluted" and it is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan with no scope for any third party mediation, the sources said.

In the case of UNSC permanent membership, the sources said India had "impeccable credentials" to play a larger role in world affairs and was willing to take the responsibility.

In New York yesterday, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said at an interactive session at Asia Society that the only path to peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir was that of dialogue and discussion in an atmosphere free from violence and confrontation.

Mr Krishna described the comments on Kashmir by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in his UN address as "unsolicited and untenable."

Mr Krishna has expressed disappointment while reacting to the "unacceptable references" to Jammu and Kashmir by Mr Qureshi.

Mr Krishna said at the Asia Society that Pakistan had enormous and serious challenges confronting it and such remarks would not divert peoples attention from the problems that the country faced.

"Such unsolicited and untenable remarks will not and indeed, cannot, divert attention from the multiple problems Pakistan needs to tackle for the common good of its people, and indeed of the entire region," he said.

Describing India as a vibrant, mature and thriving democracy, the External Affairs Minister said India’s democratic institutions guaranteed fundamental rights to all the citizens under the Constitution, including to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The only path, as our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said, for lasting peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir is that of dialogue and discussion. Meaningful dialogue can happen only in an atmosphere free of violence and confrontation," Mr Krishna said.

He said India was ready for dialogue with anybody or any group that did not espouse or practise violence