Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his desire for peaceful ties with India and resolution of all the outstanding issues, including that of Kashmir, local media reported citing sources.

This comes in the wake of PM Modi’s congratulatory wishes to the newly elected Pakistani counterpart. Sharif, in his reply, thanked PM Modi for congratulating him and said that his country desires peaceful and cooperative ties with India, reported ARY News.

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PM Modi had after Sharif was sworn in greeted the Pakistani premier and said in a tweet, “India desires peace and stability in a region free of terror so that we can focus on our development challenges and ensure the well-being and prosperity of our people.”

In his response, Sharif tweeted: “Thank you Premier Narendra Modi for felicitations. Pakistan desires peaceful & cooperative ties with India. Peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes including Jammu & Kashmir is indispensable. Pakistan’s sacrifices in fighting terrorism are well-known. Let’s secure peace and focus on socio-economic development of our people.”

In his first address to the National Assembly after being sworn in, Sharif had said, “We want good ties with India but durable peace is not possible until the Kashmir dispute is resolved.”

Sharif the leader of the joint opposition took oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday evening hours after being elected by the National Assembly of the country.

This brought to an end the political uncertainty that had gripped Pakistan since a no-confidence motion was on March 8 introduced against Sharif’s predecessor Imran Khan.