Pakistan Premier Praises Possible Peace in Partial Parley with Powerful Proximate PM

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday signaled his openness to a potential long-lasting peace with neighboring archnemesis India, responding to a greeting sent from Indian Premier Narendra Modi. According to an Islamabad government official who revealed the contents of Khan’s letter to Reuters, the prime minister assured his counterpart that Pakistan desired “peaceful, cooperative relations with all [its] neighbors, including India.” Last week, Modi sent Khan a card marking Pakistan’s March 23 Republic Day, calling for “cordial relations with the people of Pakistan” and for establishing “an environment of trust, devoid of terror and hostility.” The two nuclear-armed Asian nations have fought numerous wars and skirmishes over disputed mutual borders ever since their independence in 1947. The latest round of hostilities occurred in 2019 when each country sent fighter jets into the other’s territory while squabbling over the contested Kashmir region.