India ready for constructive engagement with Pak: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed to his newly elected Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan India’s commitment to pursue “meaningful” and “constructive” engagement with Islamabad and emphasised the need to work for a terror-free South Asia, official sources said on Monday.

In a letter to Khan on August 18, the day he was sworn in as Pakistan’s 22nd prime minister, Modi also expressed India’s resolve to build good neighbourly relations between the two countries, the sources said.

Soon after the news of Modi’s congratulatory letter to Khan emerged, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reportedly indicated in Islamabad that the Indian PM had called for talks between the two countries in the communication.

However, hours later the Pakistan’s Foreign Office clarified that Modi had “not made an offer of a dialogue” in the letter to Khan. It said Pakistan looked forward to a mutually beneficial, uninterrupted dialogue with India to resolve all issues. Government sources said India’s position on engagement with Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand has not changed at all. “In the letter, the PM expressed India's commitment to build good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan and pursue meaningful and constructive engagement for the benefit of the people of the region,” a source said.

Ties between the two nations nosedived following a spate of terror attacks on Indian military bases by Pakistan-based terror groups since January 2016. In Islamabad, Qureshi offered “uninterrupted” dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues.