NEW YORK — The onus of creating an environment for improving Indo-Pak ties and normalising the bilateral relationship is more on Pakistan and depends on the kind of "provocation" that comes from that country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.
"With Pakistan, the border frequently becomes tensed, where there are exchanges on that border. I think the message in the context of Pakistan is that India is interested in improving the relationship with Pakistan and therefore the onus of the responsibility for creating an environment in which the relationship can grow would also depend much more on Pakistan and the kind of provocation that comes from there," Jaitley said here.
"The message that we are interested in normalising our relationship with them or at least improving our relationship with them and the onus is on Pakistan for this purpose has been loud and clear," he said at the New York-based think-tank Council on Foreign Relations.
Watch: "There is huge interest as far as India is concerned" FM @arunjaitley tells @ShereenBhan on the NYSE floor http://t.co/Wl8kZrtMOT
— CNBC TV18 News (@CNBCTV18News) June 18, 2015
Jaitley, who began his 10-day visit to the US yesterday, made the remarks while responding to a question on India's foreign policy. He went on to elaborate on India's ties with its neighbours.
Pakistan and India have been involved in a war of words recently with leaders from both sides exchanging sharp comments after Prime Minister Modi's critical remarks about Pakistan during his Dhaka visit and in the wake of India's military action in Myanmar.
Prime Minister Modi had called up his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif earlier this week to greet him on the holy month of Ramzan.
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