News
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Manmohan wants to meet new Pakistani leaders ‘halfway’
* Says India wants good relations with Pakistan
* Hails Nawaz and Vajpayee’s earlier ‘courageous’ steps for peaceBy Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday offered to meet Pakistan’s new leaders “halfway”, inviting them to put the past behind them and build a new relationship based on cooperation and enduring peace. “I would like to assure the newly elected leadership of Pakistan that we seek good relations with Pakistan,” Singh told the Indian parliament in his government’s most comprehensive reaction to last month’s Pakistani election. “I hope, sir, that the newly elected leaders in Pakistan can quickly move forward with us on this. We would welcome this and meet them halfway.” “India wants to live in peace with Pakistan. The destinies of our two nations, I have often said, are closely interlinked... We need to put the past behind us; we need to think about our collective destiny, our collective security and our collective prosperity,” he said. Hails Nawaz-Vajpayee peace efforts: “The leaders of the main political parties in Pakistan have also spoken of their interest in developing close relations and working with us to bring about ... peace,” Singh said. Dr Singh had a word of praise for Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif and said they had struck a cord with their Indian counterparts Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to build peace between the neighbouring countries. “The most courageous steps to build peace were taken by prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” Singh said. “We have continued the process with President Musharraf.” Congratulates Pakistanis: He congratulated the people of Pakistan for choosing the democratic path. “I am sure, the House will join me in conveying to them our warmest good wishes as they consolidate democracy in that country,” Singh said. “I believe that in both countries there is a consensus that we must have close and cooperative relations and a framework of enduring peace,” he said. “The great daughter of Pakistan had to sacrifice her life in the [democratic] process. We mourn with profound sadness, the death of Benazir Bhutto,” the Indian prime minister said. “The people of Pakistan have paid their tribute to her memory in their own way.”
Courtesy Daily Times