NEW DELHI: In what appears to be swift movement towards a thaw in relations, Indias new Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh has hinted at picking up the threads of dialogue with the new government in Islamabad, adding that Indias neighbours would be her immediate policy priority.
The latest diplomatic overtures from a reluctant Indian establishment follow newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs repeated calls for rapprochement, which were once again repeated in Karachi on Thursday when he called for resolving outstanding disputes with India and boosting bilateral trade, investment and business.
There is a new government in Pakistan now. We will be picking up the threads from where we left off with the old government, Singh, the top official in the ministry, told reporters in New Delhi on her first day in the job.
Singh however said that any dialogue with Islamabad presupposes an environment free of violence and of terror.
Sharif Thursday repeated his call for rapprochement.
We will boost trade, we will boost business and will boost investment with India, the premier told reporters in Karachi.
We will also try our best to solve all longstanding issues with India, including Kashmir.
New Delhi broke off peace talks with Islamabad after gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in 2008, an attack which India blamed on Pakistani militants.
Talks resumed in 2011 with two rounds that focused largely on trade and visas. But relations soured again in January and February this year after six soldiers in total from both sides were killed in exchanges along the de facto border in Kashmir, a region claimed by both countries.
Tension has continued between the nuclear-armed nations in recent months, with both sides protesting at the deaths of prisoners held by the other. Agencies
