Resumption of Indo-Pak talks will help remove mistrust: Zardari

Islamabad, Jul 15 (ANI): Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday that the resumption of composite dialogue with India would help remove mistrust and restore confidence in relations between the two countries and would also help resolve all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

Zardari said this during a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, who called on him here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.

He said the destinies of the people of India and Pakistan and the development of the entire region lies in friendly, cooperative and good neighbourly relations between the two countries.

Appreciating the re-engagement between the two countries, Zardari said: "Heavy responsibility devolves on both Pakistan and India to have sustained dialogue and steer our nations from conflicting path to a cooperative course for the uplift and welfare of the region and people of the two countries."

He said the water issue was becoming serious as it had adverse impacts on our agriculture, and added that the Indus Water Treaty should be fully honoured and implemented, The News reports.

Zardari said that trade relations between the two countries would see a marked increase once the resumed dialogue process continues without any interruption.

He stressed for timely information and intelligence sharing between the two counties to prevent any incident of terrorism and violence so that "terror incidents do not affect our ties in the future."

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal accompanied the Indian External Affairs Minister. (ANI)