LAHORE, Sept 9: In scenes reminiscent of the day in 1999 when former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee set foot on Minar-i-Pakistan and said his initiative was aimed at removing Pakistan’s misgivings that India had not accepted, at heart, the creation of this country, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visited on Sunday the monument to the 1940 Pakistan Resolution.

Accompanied by Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, Mr Krishna read the text of the resolution inscribed on the walls of the Minar. He also wrote a brief note on a guest book.

The Indian minister also visited the Data Darbar and the Samadhi of Ranjeet Singh, who ruled Punjab from 1801 to 1831.

Earlier in the day, Mr Krishna said he had held meaningful talks with Pakistani leaders during his three-day visit.

“My visit has been very meaningful as Pakistan-India Joint Commission held parleys after a seven-year break,” Mr Krishna told media on the last leg of his Pakistan tour.

“I held useful talks with my Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar and signed pacts on visa liberalisation and cultural promotion,” he said, hoping the steps would help promote bilateral relations.

“We both have no option but to live peacefully. We have a good friend in Pakistan and a good neighbour,” he said, stressing India would like to take relations forward in the most “progressive direction” on all matters.

He said a new era of cooperation and cordial relations between the two countries should be ushered in.

Mr Krishna also called on Punjab Governor Latif Khosa and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. At the Governor’s House, the visitor said that outstanding issues between the two countries could not be resolved without talks.

In his meeting with the chief minister, the two leaders discussed bilateral issues.

Mr Shahbaz said that talks between India and Pakistan should discuss all outstanding issues.