Mumbai: India and Pakistan should ensure peace and focus on the socio-economic development of their people, Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday while responding to PM Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message.
Sharif on Monday offered India an olive branch soon after being elected and said in his maiden speech that a solution to the Kashmir issue would allow both countries to focus on common problems such as poverty and employment.
Modi responded on Twitter, congratulating Sharif on his election and linking any engagement with Pakistan to an environment free of terror.
In his congratulatory message on Twitter, Modi had added that India “Desires peace and stability in a region free of terror, so that we can focus on our development challenges and ensure the well-being and prosperity of our people”.
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1513556114855501829?s=20&t=Pn-L5zNOIG0MJxPloR0Zpw
While responding Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “Thank you Premier Narendra Modi for felicitations. Pakistan desires peaceful & cooperative ties with India. Peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes including Jammu & Kashmir is indispensable,” Sharif said in a set of tweets on Tuesday.
“Pakistan’s sacrifices in fighting terrorism are well-known. Let’s secure peace and focus on the socio-economic development of our people,” he added.
https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1513802683551203328?s=20&t=Pn-L5zNOIG0MJxPloR0Zpw
Sharif was elected as the prime minister during a parliamentary vote boycotted by over 100 MPs of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He later took the oath of office on Monday night.
Speaking in Pakistan’s National Assembly after his election, Sharif laid out his country’s standard position of raising the Kashmir issue at international forums and offering diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiri people.
However, he devoted more time to India in the foreign policy segment of his speech than any other country, including China and the US.
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