The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday reaffirmed India's position as far as Pakistan is concerned, stating that New Delhi is looking towards cooperative and peaceful relations with Islamabad at the earliest.
"India is looking towards cooperative and peaceful relations with Pakistan. We are ready for a meaningful bilateral dialogue when they are ready," MEA official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told the media here.
Akbaruddin also confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently in Nepal to attend the ongoing two-day South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, did not take up the matter of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
"This is a matter that we want to pursue with Pakistan. The SAARC is not a forum to pursue this issue," he said.
Speaking on Prime Minister Modi's itinerary during the day, Akbaruddin said that he held bilateral talks with the leaders of five other SAARC nations.
"The Prime Minister had bilateral engagements today with the leaders of five other nations –the Bhutan Prime Minister, the Bangladesh Prime Minister, the Afghanistan President, the Maldives President and the Sri Lankan President. Prime Minister Modi has invited Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay to visit India, in January in view of 'Vibrant Gujarat' event, to which the latter was very keen," he said.
"This was the first meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, and the Prime Minister extended him an invitation to visit India at an early date. Prime Minister Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had an extensive discussion on issue of security and terrorism," he added.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi said the pledge taken by SAARC nations to combat terror and trans-national crimes should be fulfilled.
"Today, as we remember the horror of the terror attack in Mumbai in 2008, we feel the endless pain of lost lives. Let us work together to fulfill the pledge we have taken to combat terrorism and trans-national crimes," he said in his speech at the SAARC Summit.
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