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PR. No.196/2008

Date: 27/06/2008

FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS ON THE INDIAN PRIME MINISTER  

The Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is currently on official visit to India, called on the Indian Prime Minister, H.E. Dr. Mahmohan Singh today. The Foreign Minister conveyed to him the greetings of the Prime Minister and political leadership of Pakistan. The Foreign Minister stated that all political parties, the Parliament and the elected government desire improvement of relations with India. We must avail of this propitious political climate and transform our relationship into one of peace, harmony and broad-ranging cooperation.

The Foreign Minister expressed the hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would soon visit Pakistan and that this would lead to positive movement towards outstanding issues and concrete and tangible results in bilateral cooperation.

The Prime Minister welcomed the Foreign Minister to India and stated that with the democratic government in place in Pakistan, the ongoing peace process offered a welcome opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. He stated that normalization of relations with Pakistan was a passion for him. He expressed his country's resolve to address all outstanding issues that have bedevilled relations between the two countries. The Prime Minister stated that we should focus on convergences rather than divergences. He added that bilateral trade should be mutually beneficial and expressed the readiness of his government to make bilateral trade a win-win situation.

Islamabad

27 June 2008