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Friday, August 02, 2013
India to ‘pick up threads’ of peace talks with PakistanNEW DELHI: India hinted on Thursday at restarting peace talks with Pakistan that stalled over clashes earlier this year in the disputed region of Kashmir.
Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said India would be “picking up the threads” of peace talks with the new Pakistani government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which was elected in May.
“There is a new government in Pakistan now. We will be picking up the threads from where we left off with the old government,” Singh, the top official in the ministry, told reporters in New Delhi on her first day in the job.
Singh, however, said that any dialogue with Islamabad “presupposes an environment free of violence and of terror”.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and relations have historically been strained.
Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Sharif repeated his call for rapprochement.
“We will boost trade, we will boost business and will boost investment with India,” the premier told reporters in Karachi.
“We will also try our best to solve all longstanding issues with India, including Kashmir.” afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk