India Offers 'Hands of Our Friendship' to Pakistan

Full growth of the Asian subcontinent hinges on normalization of ties between New Delhi and Islamabad, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday as the two arch-foes prepared to resume their dialogue frozen by the 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai.
In his address to parliament, Singh extended what he called his country's hand of friendship to its western neighbor.
"I sincerely hope and believe that the new ruling classes of Pakistan would grasp the hands of our friendship and recognize that, whatever are our differences, terror, as an instrument of state policy, is something that no civilized society ought to use," he said.
Singh acknowledged that talks were the only means to resolving lingering issues between the two nuclear-capable nations, which have fought three wars since the blood-soaked partition of the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan in 1947.
"After meeting of the two foreign secretaries in Thimphu (earlier this month), they have agreed to resume the process of dialogue and that is the only way in which we can resolve our problems," Singh said.
The Indian leader insisted that terrorist elements derailed attempts aimed at normalizing relationship between the two countries.
The atmosphere, he said, was now conducive for talks to move forward. Singh, however, reiterated that discussions on all outstanding issues can be held if Pakistani territory is not allowed to be used for anti-India terror activities.
In 2004, both countries agreed to a peace process that covers eight issues, including Kashmir, terrorism and Pakistan's concerns over river dams on the Indian side, which it sees as a threat to its water supplies.
Successive governments on both sides have held talks in an attempt to end their historical acrimony.
Singh and Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari hailed results from the negotiations in September 2008 as the countries completed four rounds of diplomatic meetings.
But talks were suspended two months later, in November 2008, after the terror raid on Mumbai blamed on Pakistani militants.
"I have maintained and I still maintain that full development of this subcontinent of ours will not be realized unless India and Pakistan relations are normalized," Singh told federal parliament in New Delhi.