ISLAMABAD, Apr 29 : India has failed to respond to Pakistan's desire for good relations, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, in rare rebuke of a neighbour with which he has promised to mend ties.
Sharif made improving relations with India a priority when he swept to power for a third time in a 2013 election, raising hopes that a Pakistani civilian government would finally wrest control of foreign policy from the powerful military.
The nuclear-armed neighbours' top diplomats met in Pakistan last month, after at least a dozen people were killed in a series of exchanges of fire along their disputed border, but there has been little sign of progress in ties.
"Our desire for good neighbourly relations with India has not been reciprocated," Sharif told the Saudi Gazette in an interview during a recent visit that was published in Pakistani newspapers on Wednesday.
Sharif said his acceptance of an invitation last May to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration was "an exceptional decision". But months later, India withdrew from talks after Pakistan's ambassador in India met Kashmiri separatist politicians. Sharif said that was a "frivolous pretext". "There is no sign of India desiring resumption of dialogue with us," he said.    ?REUTERS