ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday called for talks with India to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, as New Delhi denied claims it had moved troops into offensive positions on the border.
The comments from the foreign ministers of the South Asian rivals were the latest in a series of tit for tat responses since the Mumbai attacks that India blamed on Pakistan-based militants, triggering a deterioration in relations. A near-daily, frenzied exchange of words has added to bilateral tensions that touched the boiling point after attacks in Mumbai.
“Dialogue is in the interest of both the countries — we should sit across the table,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi said in a policy statement broadcast live on local television.
“India should deactivate its forward air bases and relocate its ground forces to peacetime positions,” Qureshi said. “This will send a positive signal and reduce tensions in the region.” Qureshi described developments in the past two days — such as a hot line conversation between high-level military officials from the two countries — as “positive.”
