Islamabad/New Delhi,Sept,20: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for the resumption of the peace dialogue between the two countries, a media report said on Thursday.
According to the report in The Times of India, PM Khan specifically sought a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York later this month.
The news report quoted diplomatic sources as saying that PM Khan in his letter called for the resumption of the comprehensive dialogue process between the two countries.
“Khan wrote that India and Pakistan should resolve all outstanding issues, including terrorism and Kashmir, through dialogue,” TOI reported.
Dawn News quoting its source in the Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) also confirmed the development.
During Wednesday’s weekly briefing, FO Spokesman Muhammad Faisal had said ─ while responding to a question about the chances of a bilateral meeting between the FMs on the sidelines of the UNGA ─ that no decision had yet been taken on it. “We are engaged in the matter,” he said.
The letter from the Khan is believed to be a response to Modi’s communique earlier this month to PM Khan, seeking “meaningful and constructive” engagement between the two neighbours, Dawn News reported.
The then prime minister-elect Imran Khan, in his victory speech, had expressed his desire to “improve relations with India, if their leadership also wants it”.
“If they take one step towards us, we will take two, but we at least need a start,” he had said.
Subsequently, Indian premier Modi had telephoned him to convey that Delhi was “ready to enter a new a new era of relations with Pakistan”.
