Pakistan Pitches For Full-Spectrum Dialogue With India

NEW DELHI – The Pakistanarmy headquarters has issued adirective to its corps commandersand troops not to initiateanything that could be construedas a violation of theceasefire with India along theLine of Control (LoC), outgoingPakistan HighCommissioner Salman Bashirsaid today. At a media interactionat the ForeignCorrespondents’ Club here, hesaid both countries had alsoasked their respective DGMOsto fix a date for a rare face-tofacemeeting between them, aswas agreed upon between PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh andhis Pakistani counterpart NawazSharif in New York.His comments are significant inview of the rapid deteriorationin relations between the twocountries following the beheadingof an Indian soldier inJanuary and frequent ceasefireviolations thereafter byPakistani troops, which led NewDelhi to put the dialogue onhold. Pitching for the resumptionof a “full-spectrum” dialoguebetween the two countries,Bashir said he had reasonsto believe that bilateral relationswould be on an “upward trajectory”in the coming months, ifnot sooner.