Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that peace talks with Pakistan had brought "positive results." "We have been working purposefully for all-round improvement of relations with Pakistan," he told parliament on Thursday. "Efforts we have made are beginning to bring positive results. We will work resolutely."
Singh said New Delhi wants "long-lasting peace, friendship and amity" with Islamabad, and that "peace and security in the region is the key objective of our foreign policy."
Manmohan's statement came a day after the two countries concluded their first meeting of a panel set up to fight terrorism jointly, amid charges by Pakistan that India was fuelling a tribal insurgency in its Balochistan region. New Delhi on Wednesday denied the charges, and said it handed over to Islamabad evidence of Pakistan's involvement in terrorist activities on Indian soil.
The joint initiative to fight terrorism was launched in November when the two sides resumed peace talks in New Delhi following July 2006 train bombings in Mumbai in which 186 people died.