It's time we wrote a new chapter in India-Pakistan history: PM

Declaring that time has come to write a "new chapter" in the history of two countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday decided that India will move towards Preferential Trade Agreement with Pakistan as both sides agreed that bilateral trade will be conducted on Most Favoured Nation (MFN) basis.

During an hour-long meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit, Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani also decided to put in place a liberalised visa regime at the earliest and revive the Indo-Pak joint Commission that has not been in operation since 2005.

The decision to take the bilateral engagement to a new level came in their third meeting in the last 18 months after their talks at the 2010 SAARC summit in Thimphu when they decided to resume bilateral dialogue.

The two leaders, who have had meetings on several occasions in the last three years, hit it off during their talks at the Shangrilla resort here in a beach cottage besides the Indian Ocean. After a photo opportunity at the start of the talks, they were joined by their delegations, including the Foreign Ministers, Foreign Secretaries and others. Then the one-to-one hour-long interactions started between them.

The tone was set by Singh who said he always regarded Gilani as a "man of peace" and that both the countries have lost much time in the past in acrimonious debates.

"The time has come to write a new chapter in the history of two countries and the era of accusations and counter-accusations should be behind us."

In his interaction with journalists after the meeting, Singh said he was very happy that Gilani fully endorsed his view that the two countries had a unique opportunity and therefore the next round of talks should be more productive and result-oriented to bring them close together than ever before.

He said his belief that Gilani was a man of peace was further strengthened in the last three years.

The Prime Minister said the dialogue process that started in Thimphu had yielded very positive results but more needs to be done.

"We have decided that we will resume this dialogue with the expectations that all issues which have bedeviled the relations between our two countries will be discussed with sincerity that the two countries can bring to bear on the talks."

He said the destinies of people of India and Pakistan are closely interlinked.

Gilani in his remarks said he and Singh have discussed all issues of concern to India and Pakistan.

"We had openly discussed all issues of concern, including core issues. The Prime Minister had been open. The PM placed all cards on the table and said he was ready to discuss all issues," he said.

Gilani added that core issues, including water, terrorism, Sir Creek, Siachen, trade and Kashmir were discussed.

"I think that the next round will be more constructive, more positive and will open a new chapter in the history of both the countries."

He also thanked India for backing Pakistan in its election to a non-permanent seat at the UN security Council and for market access in the EU.

Briefing journalists on the meeting, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said the Prime Minister referred to the issue of terrorism as a perennial concern in the bilateral relations which now affects Pakistan too.

"The Prime Minister did mention that it was imperative to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice."

Gilani responded saying all steps would be taken in this context in the joint fight against terror, Mathai said.

The Prime Minister referred to Pakistan's proposal to send a judicial commission to India in connection with the 26/11 case and told Gilani that India would respond soon on the issue.

He said both countries had an obligation to work towards ensuring that terrorism does not spoil the bilateral relations and the two should move on a constructive agenda.

The two Prime Ministers agreed that terrorism posed a more serious threat to peace and stability in the region and in this context, Singh emphasised the importance of the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Secretaries to tackle all issues.

Recalling their decision to resume bilateral dialogue in Thimphu, Singh said keeping in mind there was need for the two countries to have hostile-free environment, "the era of accusations and counter-accusations should be behind us."

The two Prime Ministers decided that Indo-Pak joint commission, which has not met since 2005, will be resumed.

They agreed that the measures to facilitate trade across Line of Control, decided between the Foreign Ministers in July this year, should be implemented expeditiously.

In the era of trade and economic relations, the two Prime Ministers agreed that the process of trade normalisation between their countries will be pursued to its logical conclusions.

Trade will be conducted on MFN basis and all the countries in the South Asian region will move to meeting trade obligations under SAFTA.

"We will also move towards Preferential Trade Agreement with Pakistan," Mathai quoted Singh as telling Gilani.

Pakistan had recently decided to grant MFN status to India, 16 years after New Delhi gave the similar treatment to it. There was some flip flop but later Pakistan said it would not go back on the MFN issue.

Mathai said the two Prime Ministers agreed that people are at the heart of the relationship between the two countries and people-to-people cultural contacts should be promoted.

In this context, they decided that the liberalised visa regime be put in place at the earliest.