Bilateral Dialogue: Singh lauds PM Ashraf’s appointment

Says he was “confident” of strengthening ties between the two neighbours.

NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed the appointment of his new counterpart in Pakistan and said that he was “confident” of strengthening ties between the two neighbours. A day earlier, Pakistani MPs elected Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the country’s new prime minister, seeking to end a political upheaval.  India chose to refrain from commenting on Pakistan’s internal crisis, sparked by the Supreme Court ousting prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani over contempt charges and demanding the arrest of the first candidate to be nominated as his successor. On Friday, Prime Minister Singh congratulated his Pakistani counterpart. “Our two countries will continue to make progress in their bilateral dialogue ... (and) build good neighbourly relations by strengthening cooperation in all areas for the benefit of the people of both countries,” he said.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2012.