In Sign of Thaw, Pakistan PM Visits India

First such meeting in 7 years, as trade, security discussed
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 8, 2012 6:59 AM CDT
In Sign of Thaw, Pakistan PM Visits India
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, left, shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prior to their meeting at the latter's residence in New Delhi, India, earlier today.   (AP Photo/Press Information Bureau)

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari traveled to New Delhi earlier today to meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a significant sign of warming between the two nations with years of bitter acrimony between them, reports al-Jazeera. It is the highest-level meeting between the two countries in seven years. Details of their meeting were not officially revealed, however trade and security issues were thought to have been at the forefront.

"We have a number of issues and we are willing to find tactical, pragmatic solutions to all those issues and that's the message that President Zardari and I would wish to convey," said Singh, who added he wished to visit Pakistan soon. Officially Zardari's trip was personal, as he made a pilgrimage to a Sufi Muslim shrine in Rajasthan state; but nonetheless India welcomed Zardari with the pomp of a regular state visit. "We would like to have better relations with India. We have spoken on all topics that we could have spoken about and we are hoping to meet on Pakistani soil very soon," said Zardari. Zardari's son with slain former PM Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, accompanied his father. (More India stories.)

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