Terrorism a mutual concern for both the neighbouring countries: Pak

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Pakistan said that though Nawaz Sharif's visit to India was a ceremonial occasion, the outcome of the meeting was better than expected".

Islamabad: Calling the bilateral meeting between the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers as "constructive", Advisor to Pakistani PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that though Nawaz Sharif's visit to India was a ceremonial occasion, "the outcome was better than expected".

Aziz also said that the Pakistani Prime Minster also invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to visit the country. "The foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet to review and take forward bilateral agenda, including the issues that need to be discussed based on priority," he said.

Pakistan said that the issues of terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir were among some of the issues which were discussed in the meet. "The issue of terrorism came up during discussions. PM Sharif informed his counterpart that terrorism was a mutual concern. Pakistan has suffered enormously from terrorism. Sharif conveyed to the Indian PM that the people and government of Pakistan are committed to fighting terrorism," Aziz said.

The Advisor to the Pakistani PM also added that Sharif tried to mend the ties with India. "As you know the PM had said he intended to pick up threads from where he left in 1999. Both Prime Ministers recognised the need to turn a new page," he said.

Soon after taking charge as the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that Modi's meeting with Sharif was a positive one where Modi took up the 26/11 trial and the issue of terrorism. "We told Pakistan that we want good relations with Pakistan and raised the issue of speedy trial of the 26/11 accused. We told Pakistan that talks cannot go ahead if terrorism continues. The PM told Pakistan that the sound of talks get lost in the sounds of bombs, so the sound of bombs needs to stop," Swaraj said.

She also said that the talks with all the SAARC leaders were successful. "PM told all SAARC leaders that we should leave the contentious bilateral issues to the concerned parties and come together unitedly. We should sit together and discuss the best provisions for use in other SAARC nations. Similarly tourism could be unitedly put together before the world," she said.