Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Thursday that his government has made sincere efforts to improve relations with the new government in India, but the efforts were not reciprocated.
Radio Pakistan quoted Sharif, as saying at an interaction with overseas Pakistanis in Bahrain that India had cancelled the foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan last year in August on the pretext of the Pakistani High Commissioner's meeting with the Kashmir leadership.
He said Pakistan's interaction with the Kashmir leadership has been a practice for 60 years.
He underscored the fact that Pakistan desired to have good relations with all neighbours, including India.
On the issue of terrorism, Sharif said that the menace should be eliminated from the country if economic progress was to be made.
He said that Operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched after failure of peace talks with militants, which did not succeed because they were not ready to lay their arms. He added that the operation has yielded encouraging results.
He also said that Afghanistan has promised to cooperate with Pakistan in the war against terror.
According to the Dawn, Sharif said Pakistan would also reciprocate any such encouraging gesture by Afghanistan.
Referring to the steps taken by his government for the welfare of the people, Sharif said the prices of petroleum products and electricity have been reduced.
He also said that the decrease in petroleum prices has left a positive impact on many areas - including industry, agriculture, and prices of day-to-day commodities.
The PM further said that several mega projects, such as the Bhasha Dam, are being implemented to resolve the energy crisis, adding that the shortage of gas will also be met on a priority basis.
He said the economy is reflecting positive indicators with reserves, exports, revenue and investment increasing. He underscored that stock exchange is also showing positive signs.
