Thursday, March 06, 2008

India's Good Wishes for Pakistan's Democracy

Indian PM says he wants peace, good ties with Pakistan
AFP - March 5, 2008

NEW DELHI (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday he wanted good relations with arch-rival Pakistan and voiced hopes that talks as part of a slow moving peace process would soon resume.

In a speech to the Indian parliament, he extended India's "warmest good wishes" as Pakistan "took steps to consolidate democracy."

"India wants to live in peace with Pakistan. The destinies of our two nations are interlinked. We need to put the past behind us," he said.

Asserting that the people of both countries wanted "close and cooperative ties," Singh said: "I hope that the newly elected leaders in Pakistan can quickly move forward with us on this."

India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004, but have yet to translate a ceasefire in the hotly-disputed Kashmir region into significant progress on key issues.

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