Pakistan “encouraged” by Modi ’s stance on foreign policy, looking to resume talks with India

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Pakistan said on Wednesday that it was “encouraged” by comments from India’s election front runner Narendra Modi, who said he would co-operate with foreign governments if he were to be elected as the nation’s Prime Minister. The Hindu nationalist hardliner Narendra Modi and his party, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are widely tipped to come back into power after the elections, which would see a decade of the left-of-center Congress party’s rule in India come to an end. Critics fear Narendra Modi will adapt a tough foreign policy which could see India’s relationship with its rival Pakistan and neighboring economic giant China deteriorate.

However, Pakistan High Commissioner Abul Basit said he welcomed Narendra Modi’s comments on Tuesday in a television interview that he will pursue foreign policy used by former BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee. To a small group of journalists in New Delhi, Basit said, “I was very much encouraged. They were very positive. It gives us hope that if he is elected as prime minister we should expect more positive things”.

During his tenure, Vajpayee sought to make permanent peace with its neighbor, against whom it has fought three wars, two of them regarding Kashmir, since the countries split in 1947. The neighbors, both nuclear-armed, clashed in the Kargil war in 1999, with Kashmir, claimed by both countries, continuing to be a source of tension.

India had broken off peace talks with Pakistan after the attack by Pakistani gunmen in Mumbai in 2008, which resulted in the deaths of 166 people. Basit said that dialogue is the only way to clear up all outstanding issues like Kashmir. He added that the Pakistani government wants to change the “narrative” between the nations into one of “co-operation and trust”.

He added that his government was “keenly looking forward to a government with which Pakistan (can engage) quickly, comprehensively and meaningfully… and move from conflicting relations” and that “terrorism is a common enemy of both countries” and that those who believed Pakistan harbored terrorists “misunderstood the country”.