Pakistan on Wednesday welcomed comments by India’s prime minister that New Delhi would meet its neighbour ”more than half way” if it cracked down on militants.
India put a pause on the slow-moving peace talks after tension rose sharply between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following November attacks on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
Buoyed by a resounding victory in last month’s elections, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday urged Pakistan to bring Islamist militants, including perpetrators of Mumbai attacks, to justice and said New Delhi was willing to meet Pakistan ”more than half way” if it showed resolve for peace.
Pakistan said the two old rivals, which have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, should resume dialogue for the sake of regional stability.
”We welcome any step that leads to resumption of a resulted-oriented peace process between our two countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit said.
”We agree with India that in order to have peace between our two countries and for a viable stability for our region, it is absolutely important that our two countries talk to each other and resolve our bilateral issues peacefully.”
India last week said it wanted to normalise relations with Pakistan but reacted angrily to the release of the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group it blamed for the Mumbai attacks by Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
Pakistani officials say they will request the court to review its decision. — Reuters