Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Islamabad is ready for negotiations with the new Narendra Modi-led Indian government to resolve all outstanding issues, Radio Pakistan reported. Qureshi made the statement at an Iftar dinner in Multan.
The foreign minister said the two nations should initiate negotiations for the sake of prosperity and peace in the region.
Modi was elected the prime minister of India for a second term on Saturday, two days after his Bharatiya Janata Party won a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha. In April, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that he saw a better chance of peace talks with India if the BJP returned to power.
Khan had said that if the Congress came to power, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan in Kashmir due to fears of backlash from right-wing groups. “Perhaps if the BJP, a right-wing party, wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached,” he had said.
After the election results on Thursday, Khan congratulated Narendra Modi and said he looked forward to working with him for the progress of South Asia. Modi responded to Khan, saying he always prioritised peace and development in the region.
On Thursday, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s ambassador to the United States, had said the country will not hold talks with Pakistan until it gives up its state policy of supporting terrorism. He had said the onus of ensuring the success of peace talks was on Pakistan.
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