By Prensa Latina
New Delhi : India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated his new Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gillani, expressing his desire to improve bilateral links as never before, “for which the opportunity has come,” said Singh.
After Gillani assumed his post on Tuesday, Singh sent him a letter urging the two countries to “promptly work together to agree on solutions to pending matters,” the Indian press reports today.
Singh hopes that Gillani enlarge the initiatives followed by the deceased Benazhir Bhutt, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and President Pervez Musharraf, to improve bilateral relations.
The main source of disagreement between these two South Asian bordering nations is the territorial dispute on the northern Indian state of Jammu- Kashmir, which led them to two fierce wars, chiefly the Siachen Glacial.
In his letter, the Indian prime minister mentioned the existence of a strong public feeling in both countries for speeding up the peace process and establishing cooperation.
The main Pakistani candidate to foreign minister, Assef Ahmed Ali, said in public statements that the Kashmir dispute must not represent an obstacle for the normalization of links with India.