India will continue to engage neighbours in dialogue: Antony

New Delhi, Jul 26: Ahead of Indo-Pak talks, Defence Minister A K Antony today (Jul 26) said that despite problems with its neighbours, India will continue to engage them in dialogue to find a solution in the long run.

"Even though there are problems with some of our neighbours, we will continue our dialogue process. Our hope is that through dialogue, we will be able to find a solution in the long run," he said, when asked if India would like to give any message to Pakistan on the 12th anniversary of Kargil war.

"I don't want to say anything that will vitiate the atmosphere because on Wednesday, Jul 26 there are talks at the External Affairs Minister level,"the Minister said. Antony said India has the policy to have friendly relations with all its neighbours.

"We will continue dialogue on the one side and on the other side, we will strengthen our national security apparatus," he said.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will hold day-long talks tomorrow during which a host of key issues including Jammu and Kashmir, India's concerns over terror, and steps to enhance people-to-people contacts are expected to be discussed.

It will be preceded by a meeting of Foreign Secretaries of the two countries today during which the agenda for ministerial meeting will be finalised.

PTI