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Islamabad: PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif has asked the Indian leadership to engage Pakistan in sincere talks on the Kashmir dispute.
"For a better relationship between the two countries, the Kashmir dispute should be resolved without waste of time," the former PM told Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Satyabrata Pal at a meeting.
It was Sharif who, during his second stint in power (1997-99), promoted stabilisation of relations with India, and signed the Lahore declaration with Indian premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
But his efforts could not yield results in the days and weeks to come as the nations got entangled in the bitter Kargil conflict and they came to the brink of a fullfledged war in the summer of 1999.
Nawaz Sharif told Pal Pakistan desires friendly relationship with India, and inorder to promote a friendly atmosphere both countries should take sincere steps towards the solution of Kashmir dispute.
He stressed that without a resolution of the Kashmir issue, friendly relationship between the neighbours would not be possible.
Pal told Sharif that his country wishes to see an economically strong Pakistan and India would support Pakistan by all means to establish peace within its borders.
Under the former President Pervez Musharraf's rule efforts to stabilise Pakistan-India relations did not materialise. The two countries had a months long stand off at their borders immediately after 9/11 when India blamed Pakistan for aiding terrorists who attacked its parliament - charges Pakistan denied.
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