A delegation led by the Director General, Pakistan Rangers, Maj. Gen. Umar Farooq Burki called on the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Rajnath Singh has said that India always wanted good cordial relations with Pakistan and the Government follows Shri Vajpayee’s policy of peace with neighbours as ‘friends can be changed but neighbours cannot be changed’. The Government had invited heads of our neighbouring nations for the oath-taking ceremony of the present government to display this commitment, he added.
The Union Home Minister said that India always wanted the dialogue with Pakistan to continue, and Ufa meeting was a part of the same initiative. Unfortunately, the National Security Advisor level talks between the two nations could not be held, he added.
Shri Rajnath Singh complimented both border guarding forces for having a meaningful interaction, and said that forces or civilians should not be targeted on either side. He said that both the countries are affected by terrorism and all countries have to cooperate to fight this evil.
While responding, the Director General, Pakistan Rangers, Maj. Gen. Umar Farooq Burki said that Pakistan also wanted to have good cordial relations with India and will follow the decisions taken in the meeting. He said that there could have been some incidents at the border where firing took place due to misunderstanding or by mistake. He mentioned that both sides hope to defuse the situation in future amicably.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, the Union Home Secretary, Shri Rajiv Mehrishi and Senior officers of MHA and BSF were also present on the occasion.