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ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Sunday that the government wanted to improve relations with India under its policy of friendship with neighbours.
“We do not want to commit same mistakes which our last generation had made. We want good relations with all our neighbours, instead of making them worse,” the minister said at a press briefing in the Foreign Office after her return from Addu (Maldives) where she accompanied Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit.
Mr Gilani met his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the summit. Ms Khar said the two countries had agreed to rise above their disputes and to work for stability and prosperity of the region.
“The policy we are following envisages that we have to have friendly relations with our all neighbours, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and China,” the minister said.
Ms Khar expressed the hope that Pakistan-India relations would assume a new dimension with the two sides having agreed to address each other's concerns. She said she was optimistic about an era of good relations with India.
She described the meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Indian Prime Minister Dr Singh as “very constructive and positive”.
She quoted the Indian prime minister as saying after the meting that a space of good relations could be seen and the two sides needed to look forward.
Ms Khar termed the Addu summit an opportunity for both countries to reduce the trust deficit and start building trust.
“This will take the two countries to result-oriented dialogue on all issues, including terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir.”
About a meeting in Maldives between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, she said it was held in a positive atmosphere.
She said a stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan and Pakistan supports Afghan-led and Afghan-owned initiative for peace in Afghanistan,” she said.
The minister described the agreement among Saarc countries to respond jointly to natural calamities as a landmark achievement.
“China is also taking keen interest in Saarc which is a welcome step,” she said.
The foreign minister said Saarc could play an important role in the region, adding that Pakistan had suggested establishment of a Saarc regional bank.
Referring to the meetings Prime Minister Gilani held with his Russian and Chinese counterparts on margins of the SCO summit in Saint Petersburg, Ms Khar said that both were useful, constructive and forward-looking. “Certainly we have achieved new heights in our relations with Russia.”
