Pakistan says PM Modi asked Imran Khan to resume dialogue, India denies claim

India has denied any such move, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi merely wrote a congratulatory letter to Imran Khan.

Pakistan has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to the country’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan, seeking revival of dialogue between the two countries. However, India has denied any such move, saying that Prime Minister Modi merely wrote a congratulatory letter to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and did not make any reference to revival of talks.

Pakistan-based Geo News in a report quoted country’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying that Prime Minister has called for dialogue in his letter to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan. He reportedly made the remark shortly after being sworn in.

Qureshi also reached out his Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, saying that he wanted to tell her that India and Pakistan were not just neighbours, but atomic powers with a lot of common resources.

Asserting that talks between the two neighbours must resume, the Pakistan minister said that there was need for “continued and uninterrupted” dialogue between India and Pakistan. He said that the countries could not afford to indulge in adventurism.

The report further quoted the Pakistan foreign minister as saying that there were long-standing issues between the two countries. He said that that the issues were complicated and there might be some hurdles in resorting them. He, however, added, “We must admit that Kashmir is a reality”.

After the victory of the PTI in Pakistan general elections on July 25, Prime Minister Modi had called up Imran Khan and congratulated him on the victory. Speaking to news agency ANI later in an exclusive interview, the Prime Minister had said that he expected Pakistan, under the new Prime Minister, to work to make the region free from terror and violence.

"I have always said that we wish to have good neighbourly relations. We have also taken various initiatives in this regard. I recently congratulated Imran Khan on his victory in the elections. We hope that Pakistan would work for a safe, secure, stable and prosperous region, free from terror and violence," the Prime Minister had said.