NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed the desire to start a new era of friendship with India with focus on resolving all oustanding issues and bringing peace and prosperity in the region.
In a meeting held at the Hyderabad in New Delhi between Sharif and his newly elected Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, both the leaders discussed various issues and ways to move forward the dialogue process to resolve these issues.
Sharif was accompanied by national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz, the special assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs Tariq Fatemi and the Pakistan’s ambassador to India Abdul Basit in the meeting.
The Pakistani premier said that people of both the countries want cordial and friendly relations and it is an opportunity for their leadership to come up to their expectations. He said that peoples of both the countries have given heavy mandate to their leadership which reflect their desire for peace and prosperity.
Nawaz Sharif said that peoples of both the countries are peace loving and against an arms race. He said that both the countries have wasted precious time and resources which should have been diverted towards peace and stability.
Moreover, he said that the two countries have traditional and cultural affinities and time has come to transform these affinities into strong bonds. He said that both the countries are facing common challenges of poverty and illiteracy and it should be our utmost effort to serve our masses.
Sharif also referred to his meeting with former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who also belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and paid tributes to his leadership. He said that he has great respect for Vajpayee who tried to play a role to resolve outstanding issues between the two countries. He expressed the desire that Pakistan wants to restore its relations with India as were in 1999.
