Hope India, Pak continue to work towards creating better future for their people: Indian Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad

Indian Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad Gaurav Ahluwalia on Saturday expressed hope that India and Pakistan will continue to work towards creating a better future for their people.

"We hope India and Pakistan, having attained freedom at the same time, will continue to work towards creating a better future for the people of the two countries," Ahluwalia said here.

The relations between India and Pakistan have been far from cordial in recent times with the two countries often being at loggerheads with each other.

The relations between Pakistan and India worsened last year following the Pulwama terror attack. On February 14, over 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a fidayeen attack on the force's convoy in Jammu and Kashmir. Later that month, India carried out an airstrike at a JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan, eliminating a "large number" of terrorists.

The very next day, Pakistani jets violated Indian air space. However, India foiled an attempt by the Pakistan Air Force to carry out strikes on its military installations. In the air skirmish, India lost a MiG-21 fighter jet while PAF lost a much-advanced F-16.

Several months down the line the two nations were again at loggerhead after India abrogated Article 370 on August 5. The Article gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5. Pakistan expressed serious reservations over New Delhi's action.

Islamabad cut off all the diplomatic ties with India and went on a drive to involve the international community in the matter. India contended that the abrogation of Article 370 was an internal matter and categorically told Islamabad to not create an issue.

Since then, Pakistan has also passed statements on internal actions taken by the Indian government like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.

Moreover, New Delhi has refused to engage in any kind of talks with Islamabad until the latter take action against terrorist organisations operating from its soil.