NEW DELHI, Nov 18: Buddhist principles of "mutual respect and peaceful coexistence" should guide relations between India and Pakistan, Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said on Thursday.

Mr Singh urged Pakistan to embrace the Buddhist vision of peace enshrined in the Panchsheel treaty signed between India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai on April 29, 1954.

"What can be a better framework for furthering relations with Pakistan than the five principles of Panchsheel or peaceful coexistence," he said at a function to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the treaty.

"Over the last year or so, both India and Pakistan have embarked on a process of confidence building, enhancing interaction and cooperation so as to create an atmosphere conducive to giving a firmer basis to the relationship.

"Panchsheel as a framework for a normative code of conduct between nations originated half a century ago; Panchsheel as a philosophy is centuries old," said the foreign minister.-AFP