Salman Khurshid welcomes Pakistan's intent to better relations but wants to remain cautious

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said today that though Pakistan officials have openly expressed their desire to mend relations with India, the country will still remain cautious because of a tense and violent history.

"They have said openly that they want to maintain good relations with India. Even their Prime Minister (Nawaz Sharif) said during and after their elections that he wants good relations with India. Therefore, it would be unfair to not have faith when the Prime Minister of a democratic nation and top officials of the country are saying that they want to pave a path to maintain good relations with us," Khurshid said here today.

Assuring that the country's interest is of prime assurance, Khurshid assured that "Because of our bitter experiences we will be cautious so that we don't face any difficulty on our side."

Speaking to mediapersons here, Khurshid said that India welcomes Nawaz Sharif's intent to mend relations between the two countries. However, Khurshid said, "Steps will be taken to show that expectations of our people are addressed."

The Line of Control (LoC) that runs between India and Pakistan has been extremely tense of late. Pakistan has violated the ceasefire five times this month alone.