Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addresses MPs in Lahore, on May 20, 2013.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for a new beginning with India, amid simmering tensions, and killings in the Kashmir region.
Sharif said that it is vital for India and Pakistan to mend their relations and become good friends after the recent jump in violence.
“Let us make a new beginning. Let us sit together to resolve all outstanding issues in a friendly manner and in a peaceful atmosphere,” he said, adding, “We must become good friends. Hold each other’s hands. We must sit together with open and clean heart.”
Sharif also said that Pakistan had “a lot of love and affection” for the Indian people.
The comments come days after Pakistanâ„¢s foreign ministry said the Islamabad government was seeking an early resumption of constructive dialogue with its arch-rival India.
The remarks also come after Indian and Pakistani armies exchanged fire over the so-called de-facto border known as Line of Control in Kashmir for a fourth day running.
An Indian army spokesman has said the Pakistani troops violated the disputed border, to which Indian soldiers responded with machine-gun fire. He added that Pakistan has killed five Indian soldiers in the cross-border firing.
Islamabad says two of its soldiers were seriously injured when Indian troops opened fire across the border last week.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947 — two of them over Kashmir.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by the UN-monitored Line of Control, but is claimed in full by both countries. It lies at the heart of more than 60 years of hostility between India and Pakistan.
Thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir over the past 20 years.
JR/PR
Republished from: Press TV