Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has greeted his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Pakistan Day and reiterated his country’s commitment to resolving bilateral disputes through dialogue.
“I would like to reiterate India’s desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan. India remains firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through a peaceful bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terrorism and violence,” Mr Modi said in his message.
The message comes as the two countries take steps to get past a setback caused by the Pathankot attack and are readying to move on with the dialogue agreed between them when PM Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore on Dec 25.
A team of Pakistani investigators is set to visit India from Sunday for collecting evidence related to the attack.
“Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their National Day,” Modi tweeted.
Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their National Day.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2016
The nation is celebrating the 76th Pakistan Day on Wednesday with a renewed pledge to make the country stronger by eliminating terrorism and achieving sustainable economic growth and greater political stability.
A joint military parade held at the Parade Ground near the landmark Shakarparian hills in Islamabad was the highlight of the day.
Earlier, in a letter to President Mamnoon Hussain to felicitate him on Pakistan Day, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said his country was committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan.
“India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan,” he said.
“I am of the firm conviction that our cooperation will lead to progress and prosperity in our region,” the letter added.
The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are likely to meet in April to draw up a roadmap for a comprehensive bilateral dialogue the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreed to pursue last December.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar were to meet in January but a terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase led to the cancellation of the key talks.
Since then, the two countries have been struggling to reschedule the meeting between their top diplomats. India apparently linked the resumption of dialogue with the ongoing investigation Pakistan is currently undertaking in connection with the airbase attack.
