Krishna expresses satisfaction with Pakistan visit

ISLAMABAD - Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Friday expressed satisfaction over his visit to Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Krishna, who was in the Pakistan capital on a three-day visit, told ANI: “Yes, I came here with a single purpose of making an earnest effort to reduce the trust deficit.”

“To a large extent, that has been achieved, and I have invited the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, and we will resume where we left yesterday,” he added.

On Thursday night, both ministers had expressed the hope for a revival of bilateral ties and a reopening of the dialogue process.

Both described the talks as meaningful and positive.

“India is committed to being a sincere partner in our effort to establish to peaceful and progressive relationship between India and Pakistan,” Krishna said.

Replying to a question regarding Indian involvement in Balochistan, Krishna said: “This was mentioned in Sharm-el-Shaikh, where the two prime ministers met. We have been waiting for some evidence being provided by Pakistan of Indian involvement. If credible evidence, or any evidence is provided to the Government of India of our involvement, India will certainly look into it.”

Qureshi said meaningful and result oriented issues were discussed with the India in a cordial environment.

“We discussed ways to revive the lost process of bilateral and composite dialogues and measures to restore confidence of each other,” he said.

“We discussed Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) on Kashmir, crossed LoC trade and travel issues besides the Sir Creek issue. Pakistan has asked India its proposals on the matter,” Qureshi said.

India and Pakistan on Thursday termed the talks as process of improving their relationship, but avoided giving details on how they plan to tackle major obstacles to outstanding problems.

“We have agreed that this process is valuable and we will continue to meet in the future,” Qureshi said.

“This was a useful meeting and we have agreed to continue this engagement in days to come,” he added. (ANI)