Terming the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari as a good beginning, PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said it would help find pragmatic solutions to a number of issues affecting ties between the two countries.
Observing that cordial relations between India and Pakistan were in the interest of the common people in both the
countries, he said in the prevailing circumstances some bold initiatives were needed to solve all the contentious issues.
“Today’s meeting between Manmohan Singh and Asif Ali Zardari is a good beginning. We hope this positive development
would help in finding pragmatic solutions to a number of issues that are affecting relationship between the two
neighbours”, the Mufti said addressing public meetings in the border belt of R S Pura, 40 kms from here.
He said the meeting would yield substantive results and the process inititated today would be taken to its logical
conclusion.
“Although all problems cannot be solved in one meeting yet it is good that both the countries have now realized that dialogue must be continued to arrive at solutions,” he said and expressed satisfaction over the joint statement issued by the leaders after the meeting.
Both India and Pakistan should seize the moment and turn it into a stepping stone to make substantial progress on
all the issues including Jammu and Kashmir,” the former chief minister said.
The PDP leader hoped that the Prime Minister would visit Pakistan very soon in response to the invitation extended to him by Zardari.
Terming Pakistan’s decision to grant MFN status to India as bold, he said it could redefine bilateral relations between the two countries and regional equations in South Asia.
——————–PTI