India's south Asian neighbours were among the nations who welcomed yesterday the election of external affairs minister I K Gujral as leader of the United Front saying under his leadership relations with countries in the region would be more cordial.
We would look forward to renewing the relationship and also hope that Gujral, as he was stating when he was not in the government in the past, would take steps to resolve the primary cause of friction between India and Pakistan, Mushahid Hussain, information adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said.
Gujral comes across as a person with a positive perspective on relations with Pakistan and we only hope that in his new position he will be able to translate that perspective into a practical policy, Reuters quoted him as saying in Islamabad.
Bangladesh foreign minister Abdus Samad Azad expressed confidence that under Gujral's leadership bilateral relations would develop further and ties among the neighbouring countries would also be more cordial.The Saarc countries would have a good leader in Gujral, Samad said here.
In Colombo, a foreign ministry spokesman said Sri Lanka is naturally delighted at the prospect of him (Gujral) being Prime Minister of India.
One could expect that the solid foundation laid by him as foreign minister would naturally be consolidated in the period ahaed, Ravinatha Aryasinha, said.
He said Gujral is a trusted and proven friend who understands Sri Lanka well. He has helped to improve the relations between India and Sri Lanka during the worst times. In Moscow, where Gujral served as India's ambassador in 1976-1980, a senior Russian foreign ministry official described his election as good and said it would provide new dynamism to bilateral relations.
Gujral visited Russia thrice as India's foreign minister and has a good personal rapport with Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov, the official said on condition of anonymity.
In Beijing, there was no immediate official comment on gujral's election but analysts said china would be more than happy to see a seasoned politician leading the second most populous nation in the world after china.
American media reaction to gujral's election was positive. Washington times said the change of leadership in india is unlikely to affect its economic reforms or policy of reaching out to estranged neighbours in south asia.
Gujral shattered decades of hostility among india's neighbours through his programme for india to make unilateral concessions as the larger power in the region, the paper quoted howard schaffer, a former diplomat working with the georgetown university as saying.
