New Delhi (Web Desk) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that bilateral dialogue could lead to the solution of all the outstanding issues with Pakistan.
He underlined it on Pakistan’s National Day while greeting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a letter.
“I have written to Pakistan PM Mr Nawaz Sharif, conveying my greetings on the National Day of Pakistan,” Modi tweeted.
“It is my firm conviction that all outstanding issues can be resolved through bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence,” he said in another tweet.
Pakistan on Monday held its first Republic Day parade in seven years in a symbolic show of strength in the war against Taliban insurgents three months after a militant attack on an army-run high school killed 132 children.
More over, In Delhi, celebrations at the Pakistan embassy are being attended by Kashmiri leaders including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference.
An invitation from Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit to Masarat Alam, the hardliner released from jail earlier this month, is also expected to provoke India.
Alam allegedly organized stone-throwing protests in 2010 that saw Kashmiris clashing for months with Indian soldiers and police officers. His release has sparked a massive political row with PM Modi’s BJP facing opposition anger in Parliament.
“I don’t think the Indian government has objected (to the invite)…I suggest to media friends not to make an issue out of a non-issue,” said the Pakistani envoy today.
Last year, India abruptly called off talks as the Pakistan High Commissioner in Delhi insisted on consulting separatist leaders before the dialogue.
Earlier this month, foreign secretary S Jaishankar spoke to his Pakistani counterpart during his visit to Islamabad as part of a “SAARC yatra” at PM Modi’s instance.
(With inputs from NDTV)
