Krishna hopes to bridge trust deficit with Pakistan

Thimpu, Feb 7 (ANI): External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Monday stressed the need to build trust, mutual confidence and respect with Pakistan

On his arrival at the ongoing South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Bhutan, Krishna said: Both the countries are determined to continue their efforts to build a relationship of trust.

"The genesis of all this was started by the two prime ministers when they met in Thimphu. They mandated the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries to bridge the trust deficit between our two countries. So all these meetings, at the level of the Foreign Secretaries and Foreign Ministers is only to achieve that purpose of building bridges of trust, mutual confidence and respect," said Krishna.

He hailed the meeting between both Foreign Secretaries as a positive step towards future engagements.

"The very fact that the two Foreign Secretaries met is certainly an indication of the fact that the solid foundations have been laid for getting the two countries on to a sustained engagement," said Krishna.

On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir met here to discuss issues plaguing ties between the two nations. By Naveen Kapoor/Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)