In a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for resumption of talks with India. In a tweet on Thursday, the Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal confirmed that Prime Minister Khan responded to Modi in a 'positive manner' and urged the Indian government to talk and resolve all issues. "Let's talk and resolve all issues. We await formal response from India," he tweeted.
The Indian prime minister had earlier written to Imran congratulating him on assuming office. In response, the prime minister penned down a letter to Modi and expressed his desire to renew dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. In his letter to Modi, Prime Minister Khan expressed hope that the foreign ministers of both countries meet on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session, set to be held in New York later this month.
According to media reports, Khan asked for a renewal of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue process which had begun in 2015. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had also visited Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference. Last month, 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." Modi had said both countries should adopt a joint strategy for progress in bilateral ties. The PTI chairman had expressed same views during his first meeting with the Indian envoy after the July 25 election.
Last month, following a visit by Navjot Singh Sidhu to Pakistan for the prime minister's oath-taking ceremony, PM Khan took to twitter to once again invite India to dialogue and pursue peace, terming it the 'best way to alleviate poverty and uplift the people of the subcontinent' and he also stressed on need to start trading. "To move forward, Pakistan and India must dialogue and resolve their conflicts, including Kashmir," the premier was quoted as saying.
The newly-appointed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also made clear in his first press conference after assuming office that he would pursue dialogue with the neighbouring rival as a way forward. He said coming to the table and talking peace is the only option.
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