ISLAMABAD: Contrary to the exchange of thorny statements by leaders of the ruling PML-N and the main opposition PPP these days, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met in the Presidency in a cordial manner on Thursday and discussed a range of national and international issues, including capital punishment, political consensus against terrorism, tension along the Line of Control and turmoil in Egypt.

Earlier, addressing a gathering of foreign diplomats at a farewell dinner which was also attended by the prime minister, President Zardari praised Mr Sharif for his presence in the event and assured him of full support in addressing national issues.

There was no official word on the meeting between the president and the prime minister, but sources in the Presidency told Dawn that issues relating to capital punishment, relations with India and terrorism were thoroughly discussed. It was decided that the Prime Minister’s Office would soon issue an official statement on the matter of capital punishment.

The PML-N government has discontinued a moratorium on death sentence imposed by the PPP government.

According to the text of the president’s speech shared with the media, Mr Zardari expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Sharif for attending the dinner hosted by the president for politicians, foreign diplomats and local bureaucrats. “I welcome Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif to this get-together,” the president said, adding: “His presence here is a demonstration of the movement towards maturity of our democracy. I also assure him of my full support to all the commitments that this nation needs.”

BORDER TENSION: The president praised the role of the Nawaz government in exercising restraint over the current tension along the Line of Control.

“Our new democratic government has exercised restraint. The prime minister is committed to peaceful relations with India and has stated that his government will continue to exercise restraint,” the president said.

Mr Zardari said the two sides needed to ensure that the fallout of recent incidents along the LoC was not allowed to derail the normalisation process.

“With India, we want to transform our bilateral relations into a friendly and cooperative partnership by resolving the outstanding disputes. We believe the way forward for the two countries is to resume the stalled composite dialogue process at the earliest,” the president said.

He said some of the old challenges, faced by the PPP government, still persisted and new challenges had emerged. “But it gives me great satisfaction that I will be handing over a far more stable and stronger Pakistan than what I had inherited five years ago.”

President Zardari’s five-year term is ending on Sept 8 after which president-elect Mamnoon Hussain of the PML-N will assume the charge of his office.

Mr Zardari said that for the first time in the country’s history one elected civilian president would be handing over his charge to another elected civilian president in a smooth and orderly manner. “This fact alone speaks volumes of democracy taking roots in Pakistan.”

EGYPT TURMOIL: The president said Pakistan was closely watching the political turmoil in the Middle East. “The recent events in Egypt are a source of deep concern for us. We are also concerned about the situation in Syria.”

He said Pakistan hoped that the heroic people of these brotherly countries would overcome the present challenges and succeed in bringing about the desired reforms and democratic transition without any foreign interference.