Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said both he and future Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to take bilateral relations forward and resolve outstanding issues peacefully.
Singh told reporters on his way back from Japan and Thailand that both leaders had invited each other to visit their countries but dates for this had not been fixed as yet.
“I rang up Nawaz Sharif on the very first day the election results were coming out. I conveyed my congratulations to him and I reciprocated his sentiments that India-Pakistan relations should move forward.”
“I also invited him to visit India. He also invited me to visit Pakistan. There is an invitation from the government of Pakistan for me to visit Pakistan. There is no firm decision on either side. No dates have been fixed but we would certainly like to have good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.”
“It has been consistently our policy that in India-Pakistan relations, we should deal with all outstanding issues. We are committed to resolving them in a peaceful manner. That is also the sentiment that was reciprocated by Nawaz,” he said.
The Indian PM said his government stood by its pledge of resolving all issues involving Pakistan in a peaceful manner.