In the letter, Modi has also underlined the need to make the Indian subcontinent “free of terror and violence” — which also outlines the BJP-led NDA government’s core concern on terrorism.
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| In his letter, PM Narendra Modi also stressed that India looks forward to “constructive and meaningful engagement with Pakistan.” |
In what is being seen as an outreach to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to newly elected Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and has expressed a commitment to build “good neighbourly relations” and pursue “meaningful and constructive engagement” for the benefit of the region, sources said on Monday.
This was part of Modi’s letter to Khan, which was written on August 18, the day he was sworn in as the new Prime Minister.
In the letter, Modi has also underlined the need to make the Indian subcontinent “free of terror and violence” — which also outlines the BJP-led NDA government’s core concern on terrorism.
However, the outreach is significant, since Khan had — in his victory speech — said that if India takes one step, Pakistan will take two steps.
According to sources, Modi, who wrote to Khan and congratulated him on his assumption of charge, “expressed the belief that the smooth transition of Government in Pakistan would strengthen and cement people’s belief in democracy”.
This is also a message of support to Khan’s electoral victory, which has been questioned by Opposition parties in Pakistan who have called the elections “rigged” and “unfair”.
In the letter, sources said, Modi “recalled their telephone conversation, in which they spoke of their shared vision to bring peace, security and prosperity in the Indian subcontinent, in order to make it free of terror and violence, and to focus on development”.
“The Prime Minister expressed India’s commitment to build good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan and pursue meaningful and constructive engagement for the benefit of the people of the region,” sources said.
Information about Modi’s letter to Khan was disclosed by newly elected Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday when he told Pakistan’s media that Modi had sent a letter with a message about starting the path of dialogue.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson later clarified that Qureshi had not said that “the Indian Prime Minister had made an offer of a dialogue”, but had said “that the Indian Prime Minister in his letter to Prime Minister, Imran Ahmed Khan, had also mentioned something similar to what the Foreign Minister elucidated earlier, that is, that the way forward was only through constructive engagement”.
“The Foreign Minister was also briefed about the same positivity and constructive environment prevailing during the meeting of the former Minister of Law & Information with the Indian External Affairs Minister during his visit to India on 18 August 2018 to attend the funeral of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” the Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson said.
“Pakistan looks forward to a mutually beneficial, uninterrupted dialogue with India to resolve all issues. Any attempts to instigate controversy and vitiate the environment are counter-productive and against the spirit of responsible journalism,” the spokesperson said, in a statement released by Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
The letter from Modi to Khan comes about three weeks after Modi had called up Khan and congratulated him for emerging as the largest political party in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the recently conducted general elections.
“Prime Minister expressed hope that democracy will take deeper roots in Pakistan…and had also reiterated his vision of peace and development in the entire neighbourhood”, an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs had said, without making any reference to “terror-free atmosphere”.
The emphasis on “terror-free atmosphere” has been Delhi’s standard language template in response to Pakistan’s overtures in the last two-and-half years.
After the telephone conversation between the two leaders, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria had met Khan on August 10 and had gifted a cricket bat autographed by the Indian cricket team. They had discussed the prospects of the India-Pakistan relationship and a range of issues, according to Bisaria. According to Khan’s party colleagues, the PM-elect had raised the issue of human rights violations in Kashmir.
In its first reaction on general elections in Pakistan, the MEA’s official spokesperson had hoped the new government in Islamabad will work constructively to build a safe, stable and secure South Asia “free of terror” and “violence”.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said that India desires a “prosperous and progressive Pakistan at peace with its neighbours”. He had also said that India welcomed that the people of Pakistan have reposed their faith in democracy through general elections.
“We hope that the new government of Pakistan will work constructively to build a safe, stable, secure and developed South Asia free of terror and violence,” Kumar had said.
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