Pakistani Prime Minister Calls On Indian Counterpart To Resume Bilateral Dialogue- Reports

Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published September 20, 2018 | 09:39 PM

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and urged New Delhi to resume bilateral dialogue, local media reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and urged New Delhi to resume bilateral dialogue, local media reported on Thursday.

According to the Pakistani Geo tv broadcaster, Khan, in particular, called for a meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries, which could be organized on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Also on Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Faisal said that Prime Minister Imran had written his response in a positive spirit.

The foreign ministers of the neighboring countries are set to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing UNGA session later this month, the Indian Foreign Ministry told the Financial Times newspaper.

However, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar underlined that the upcoming meeting does not mean the resumption of regular high-level talks and will be just "a meeting and not a dialogue," according to the newspaper.

At the same time, a Pakistani official told the newspaper that Islamabad and New Delhi decided to meet as they had been encouraged by third countries.

"When relations between India and Pakistan are tense, lots of countries outside the region worry," the official told the newspaper.

The 73rd UNGA session has kicked off on Tuesday. The opening of the general debate is scheduled for September 25.

For over 70 years, India and Pakistan have been engaged in a conflict over the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, with both states laying claims to it since the end of UK rule over India and its partitioning into two separate countries: India and Pakistan. In 2003, a ceasefire agreement was signed, but the two sides continue accusing each other of violating it, which results in continued instability in the region.