Tony Blair arrived in Pakistan on a two-day tour on January 7, 2001 during his South Asian tour. The British Prime Minister was not scheduled to visit Pakistan. In a bid to ease tension in the subcontinent he also included Islamabad in his itinerary that had earlier included India and Bangladesh. Mr. Blair, during the last leg of his visit to South Asia in Islamabad, laid emphasis at easing military tensions between India and Pakistan and on the initiation of dialogue process between Pakistan and India for resolving the Kashmir dispute and addressing the issue of terrorism. Both the leaders held one and a half-hour talks through their aides and later a twenty minute one to one meeting was held between both the leaders followed by a joint press conference at Aiwan-i-Sadar. Pakistan India tension, Kashmir and other issues including Afghanistan and matters of bilateral cooperation between both Britain and Pakistan were discussed. Tony Blair called for rejection of terrorism and initiation of political dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi for resolving of all out standing issues including Kashmir. "I hope and believe that both countries in these difficult times would understand the need to defeat terrorism and to resolve difficult issues through dialogue", he said, adding that it was in the interest of not just the two countries and its people but also the whole region and the wider world.

With regard to Kashmir issue he said that the issue should be solved by dialogue and no matter how strongly people felt about the issue of Kashmir and although they were entitled to their struggle, there could be no place for acts of terrorism. He cited the example of Northern Ireland, which eventually realized that the issue could be resolved only through dialogue. Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the terrorist acts and welcomed the actions taken by the Musharraf government against the terrorist organizations such as Jaish-i-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The British Prime Minster was also informed of the comprehensive plan that had been hammered out by Musharraf’s government to address the issue of terrorism which he planed to unveil in a televised address to the nation within the next few days. President Musharraf also assured the British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Pakistan was ready to take steps necessary for the de-escalation of tension with India.