Pakistani nationals, who are on a visit to relatives in Jammu and Kashmir, are hopeful that relations between New Delhi and Islamabad will strengthen after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invite to Nawaz Sharif, who is poised to become the next prime minister of Pakistan, to visit India.
A Pakistani national, Chaudhary Maqbool Hussain, said: "Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had congratulated Nawaz Sharif after his success in the recently concluded elections. Manmohan Singh also invited him to India and he graciously accepted it. We believe that both the nations will now live peacefully and we hope that in the near future their will be harmony."
Reaching out to the new Government in Pakistan, Manmohan Singh conveyed India's desire to work with Sharif to chart a new course in bilateral relations.
Singh also invited Sharif to visit India at a mutually convenient time.
"I am writing to extend to you my heartiest congratulations on your emphatic victory in the general elections in Pakistan. You have received a strong mandate to lead Pakistan towards a stable, peaceful and prosperous future. I wish you all success in meeting the hopes and expectations of your people as you prepare to assume your new responsibilities," he said.
However, Sharif said on Monday that the mistrust that has long dogged relations with India must be tackled.
Sharif's power base is Pakistan's most prosperous province, Punjab, which sits across the border from an Indian state with the same name.
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Sharif wants to see trade between the two countries unshackled, and he has a history of making conciliatory gestures towards New Delhi.
In 1999, when he was last prime minister, Sharif stood at the frontier post waiting to welcome his counterpart - Atal Behari Vajpayee - to arrive on the inaugural run of a bus service between New Delhi and Lahore.