NEW DELHI, 6 March 2008 — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday urged the newly-elected leaders in Pakistan to continue with the peace process between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals, saying the destinies of the two countries were intertwined.
In India’s most significant reaction since last month’s Pakistani elections, Prime Minister Manmohan said India was pleased that Pakistan was on the path back to democracy and urged the new leaders to continue a four-year-old peace process.
“India wants to live in peace with Pakistan. The destinies of our two nations are inter-linked. We need to put the past behind us,” Manmohan said addressing the Parliament.
Manmohan paid tribute to slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for initiating a dialogue with India and praised the efforts of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and President Pervez Musharraf in establishing the peace process. Manmohan said he wanted to continue this work with a new Pakistani government.
“I hope that the newly-elected leaders in Pakistan can quickly move forward with us on this,” Manmohan said.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations, fighting three wars since both gained independence from Britain in 1947.
However, relations have improved markedly since 2004, when the two countries began a peace process to resolve outstanding disputes. The peace process was launched by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf in 2004. Although progress has been slow in resolving their territorial dispute over Kashmir, violence in the divided Himalayan region has subsided.
“We need to put the past behind us. We need to think about our collective destiny, our collective security, our collective prosperity,” Manmohan said.
“The leaders of the main political parties in Pakistan have also spoken of their interest in developing close relations and working with us to bring about ... peace.”
Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League emerged as the two largest parties after last month’s parliamentary election, but have not reached agreement on the formation of a coalition government.
Manmohan congratulated the people of Pakistan for showing that they, like Indians, wanted the right to choose their own government.
“I believe that in both countries there is a consensus that we must have close and cooperative relations and a framework of enduring peace,” he said.
“I hope, sir, that the newly-elected leaders in Pakistan can quickly move forward with us on this. We would welcome this and meet them halfway.”
