India's Modi calls for talks with Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan

Pakistan's foreign minister says Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for dialogue with Islamabad in a letter to the country’s newly elected leader Imran Khan.

"The Indian prime minister has sent a letter in which he congratulated Imran Khan and ... he has sent a message to open talks," media outlets quoted Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying in the capital Islamabad on Monday.

Qureshi told reporters that Pakistan also saw talks with its old rival as the "only way forward."

"We need a continued and uninterrupted dialogue. This is our only way forward,” the top Pakistani diplomat said.

Meanwhile, an Indian Foreign Ministry official confirmed that Modi had written to Khan on Saturday and "expressed India's commitment to build good neighborly relations between India and Pakistan and pursue meaningful and constructive engagement for the benefit of the people of the region."

Khan offered an olive branch to India after his election victory last month, proposing talks to resolve a long-standing dispute over the Kashmir region. The two leaders spoke by telephone late last month.

Khan said in his offer to India that Pakistan was ready to respond positively to any effort on dialogue.

"If India comes and takes one step toward us, we will take two," said Khan.

Pakistan's former government, led by Nawaz Sharif, also sought better ties with India. Sharif's efforts to improve ties with India were seen as undermining his relations with the army as Pakistani security policy is largely determined by its powerful military.

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India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region divided between Pakistan and India, but claimed by both in its entirety. The two neighbors have fought three wars over control of the Himalayan region since the countries’ partition in 1947.

Tensions have recently been running unusually high between India and Pakistan as mutual accusations of cross-border fire have increased.

New Delhi regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants and allowing them across the restive frontier in an attempt to launch attacks on Indian forces.

Islamabad, however, strongly denies the allegation and accuses India of committing “war crimes” in Kashmir and “exporting terror” to Pakistan.

Despite a ceasefire agreement that was reached in November 2003, sporadic skirmishes continue in the Himalayan region.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Qureshi said his ministry would be in charge of foreign policy, but would take advice from "national security institutions." He said he would soon visit Afghanistan bearing a message of friendship and "new beginnings."

Afghanistan has for years accused Pakistan of supporting Taliban militants fighting the Kabul government.

Pakistan denies aiding armed groups in both Kashmir and Afghanistan.

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