Pakistan wants 'result-oriented' engagement with India

Islamabad: Pakistan wants a “constructive, sustained and result-oriented” engagement with India and is committed to peacefully resolving all outstanding bilateral issues, President Asif Ali Zardari said today. Zardari made the remarks during a meeting with Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate to India, former foreign secretary Salman Bashir. He expressed the hope that the resumed dialogue process between the two sides would move forward in the spirit that was displayed during the meetings of the two prime ministers at Thimpu and Mohali.[caption id=“attachment_342706” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. AP”]  [/caption] Pakistan wants to have “a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India and was committed to resolve all outstanding issues peacefully and in a just manner”, Zardari was quoted as saying in an official statement. It was time for the two countries to work together for the betterment of their people, he said. Zardari said Pakistan also wants “an uninterrupted and uninterruptible dialogue process”. He expressed satisfaction over the progress made so far in the resumed dialogue process and called for making the talks “more productive and result-oriented”. The president’s remarks came ahead of crucial meetings between the foreign secretaries and foreign ministers of the two countries to review the dialogue process that was revived last year after a gap of over two years in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The foreign secretaries are set to meet at the end of this month while the foreign ministers will hold talks next month. Zardari said “socio-economic underdevelopment continued to haunt our people for over 60 years” and it was important to find peaceful solutions to outstanding issues so that resources could be to the improvement of socio-economic conditions. He also expressed satisfaction at the progress being made to normalise bilateral trade relations. He expressed the hope that the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the India Trade Promotion Organisation and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan would help promote trade activities for the benefit of the people. “We hope that the trade normalisation process would provide a level playing field to the business communities of the two countries,” Zardari said. The president lauded Bashir’s services as the former foreign secretary and expressed the hope that his appointment as high commissioner would help in taking forward the process of normalisation between the two countries. Bashir, who will replace Shahid Malik as the high commissioner, thanked the president for reposing confidence in him and said he would work to promote good and friendly relations between the two neighbours. PTI