Pakistan ready to shake hands with India

Responds to PM Singh's friendship message of taking bilateral relations forward

Pakistan on Sunday said it was ready to shake hands with India in response to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's message of taking bilateral relations forward in a peaceful manner.

Responding to the positive signals given out by India, the Pakistan High Commission said it would make every effort to bring about a "qualitative improvement in relations" between both neighbours.

"It is exceedingly important that both sides do their utmost to build a positive narrative about each other. Good neighbourly, friendly and cooperative relations between Pakistan and India, based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, are in the interest of the peoples of the two countries and of the region as a whole," spokesperson of the Pakistan High Commission, Manzoor Ali Memon said here on Sunday.

Memon also lauded prime minister Singh's positive gesture in sending his special envoy Satinder Lambah for initiating the process of dialogue with Pakistan's Prime Minister-designate Nawaz Sharif. He also said that this will not only result in thawing the relationship between both countries which recently hit a major roadblock with the killing of Indian soldiers on the border along the Line of Control, but will also "contribute to improving the atmospherics".

In February 2011, India and Pakistan took a historical decision to resuming normal bilateral trade and investment relations. Both sides have also resorted to creating a relaxed business visa regime.

However, Memon also stressed on the need to find out an amicable solution through a renewed effort in resolving all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, which has been the main bone of contention between both countries and "explore new avenues of cooperation."

There has been a growing apprehension in India that the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan in 2014 would result in more tensions in the Kashmir Valley.

Memon also underscored the need for India to understand the transformational change Pakistan is going through with the establishment of a democratically elected government. "It is also important that the phenomenal societal change in Pakistan is understood and appreciated in India."

Memon also reiterated what Sharif had said after winning the election that he would like to take the process of dialogue forward from where he left when both sides met in Lahore in February 1999, with the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Last week, while concluding his five-day trip to Japan and Thailand, Singh had told reporters that India is ready to take the peace process forward. Inviting Sharif to visit India, Singh had said, "It is also important that the phenomenal societal change in Pakistan is understood and appreciated in India. It is time to shed the old way of thinking and using of stereotypes. There is every reason for optimism."