Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday remained optimistic about the future of the Indo-Pak relationship, saying he hoped his democratically-elected Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif succeeds, as he had shared his views on a constructive path forward for the future for the two countries.
"I very much hope that Nawaz Sharif succeeds. He is the democratically elected Prime Minister of a neighbouring country, and, he has said all the right things about Indo-Pakistan relations. So, I sincerely hope and pray that he does succeed in carrying out his mission," Dr. Singh said onboard Air India One while returning from the United States after a five-day visit via Frankfurt, Germany.
Recapping details of his first meeting with Sharif on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, Dr. Singh reinforced the view that maintaining tranquility along the Line of Control (LoC) is of utmost concern and importance to both countries to ensure normal relations.
"It is at a stage in a sense that we are moving forward towards normalization of our relations, and, the first step has to be peace and tranquility on the Line of Control. And for that, we have agreed that the DGMOs of the two sides will meet and work out arrangements. It will take time to find out what can be done and what is agreed upon is implemented upon. But these are all steps towards normalization of the relationship," Dr. Singh said.
On September 29, after the meeting between Dr. Singh and Sharif in New York, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon confirmed that the two leaders had exchanged invites for their next meeting in both countries, but a date has not been fixed yet.
The meeting between Dr. Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif, which lasted just over an hour, came at a time when both countries are facing politically sensitive situations in the wake of the multiple incidents of ceasefire violation, militant attacks and incidents along the LoC in the past few months.
The India-Pakistan relationship has been especially stressed since August 6, when five Indian soldiers by were ambushed by Pakistani troops in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, there have been multiple incidents of ceasefire violation along the LoC and militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir have also increased.