ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Nineteen politicians met with Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday and offered him ``complete support'' ahead of a summit in India next month, a government statement said.
In turn, the general, who assumed the country's presidency last week by decree, assured the politicians he would consult them on ``all important national issues'' in the future, it said.
The July 14-16 talks between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behair Vajpayee will be the first summit between the nuclear-capable neighbors in more than two years.
Pakistan's main pro-democracy political alliance boycotted Wednesday's meeting to protest mainly at Musharraf's controversial assumption of the presidency.
The 19 men were the largest group of politicians to meet Musharraf since he seized power in a bloodless army coup in October 1999. Among them were heads of smaller parties including former president Farooq Leghari and former cricket hero-turned politician Imran Khan, as well as some former members of the parliament that Musharraf dissolved on June 20.
Musharraf said on Tuesday he expected the talks in India to set off a process for settling the two countries' bitter dispute over Pakistan. Wednesday's official statement quoted him as saying: ``Kashmir would be the core issue and everything else would follow.''
Mian Mohammad Azhar, who leads a breakaway faction of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Party, said he advised Musharraf to try again for a meeting with the boycotting 16-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.
But there was no immediate government comment on the suggestion.
India rules about 45 percent and Pakistan just over a third of Kashmir, over which the two nations have fought two of their three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. China holds the rest of the territory.
Musharraf removed civilian President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar by decree on June 20, assuming the office himself and dissolving the suspended parliament and provincial assemblies.
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PHOTO CAPTION

Chief of Pakistan's religious party, Maulana Fazalur Rehman speaks to reporters during a news conference on Tuesday, June 26, 2001, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Rehman made a remark in the news conference that Mujahedeen (holy warriors) and Indian forces should silence their guns in kashmir to create suitable atmosphere for talks. (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)
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