Pak wants 'uninterrupted' dialogue with India: Qureshi

Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi today extended the hand of friendship to India soon after taking oath by offering "uninterrupted" dialogue to resolve all the outstanding issues, saying it is the "only wise course" as the two countries cannot afford any "adventurism".

After the swearing-in ceremony at the President House, Qureshi went to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and addressed media.

Qureshi was the foreign minister from 2008 to 2011 under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government when the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks took place. He was in New Delhi when 10 Pakistan-based LeT terrorists attacked India's financial capital.

The new foreign minister said Pakistan wants to rebuild ties with eastern and western neighbours and create peace in the region.

He said Pakistan wants to resolve all issues with India through talks.

"We need a continued uninterrupted dialogue. It is the only wise course for us," he said.

The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.

The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deteriorated bilateral ties