News
Saturday, September 08, 2012
Pakistan, India set to move forward: RajaISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday said that relationship between Pakistan and India would improve as direction had been set for moving forward. He said this while talking to Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House. Raja said that the visit of the Indian foreign minister was of great importance as the people of both the countries desired good relations. “We must learn from the past. We cannot change neighbours,” he said. He appreciated the efforts made by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Krishna to improve relations between the two countries. The prime minister said, “No doubt Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Kreek and other issues need to be resolved, but we need to have a positive approach to resolving these issues. Terrorism anywhere in the world is a threat to humanity. It is a common enemy of both the countries. Pakistan is a frontline state in the war against terrorism and has suffered enormously.” He said there was political consensus in Pakistan over having good relations with India. In this connection, he referred to the recent visit to India of a Pakistani parliamentary delegation comprising representatives from all political parties in the country. Raja asked the Indian foreign minister to convey his best wishes to the prime minister and people of India. He also extended an invitation to the Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan. Krishna thanked the prime minister for the meeting and informed him that it was his second visit to Pakistan as foreign minister of India. He said he had developed a good relationship with the Pakistani foreign minister and that her visit to India was a defining moment for both sides. He said the revival of the joint ministerial commission between the two countries after six years would send a strong message that “we mean business”. Krishna said that India was committed to the stability, peace and prosperity of Pakistan. He said he agreed with the assessment of the prime minister that the present atmosphere between the two countries was good and added that the two sides need to create the right kind of atmosphere for creating “feel-good factor”. This, he said, was now slowly appearing on the horizon. The Indian foreign minsiter informed the prime minister that there was a lot of goodwill among the people of India for the people of Pakistan. He referred to the recent Commonwealth games where the Pakistani contingent was accorded the biggest reception after the Indian contingent. He said both Pakistani and Indian prime ministers hailed from the same region and that it would help resolve issues that haunt the two countries. The prime minister said he wished both the foreign ministers the best during their negotiations. The meeting was also attended by High Commissioner of India Sharat Sabharwal, Pakistani High Commissioner in India Salman Bashir and other senior officials of the Foreign Ministry. staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk