New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that he is ‘absolutely willing and ready’ to engage with India but the onus is on New Delhi to take the necessary measures ‘for meaningful and result-oriented engagement.’

“I am absolutely ready and willing to have a serious dialogue and discussion with our counterparts, Indians, provided that they show sincerity of purpose and they show that they are ready to discuss issues that have really kept us at a distance over decades,” Shehbaz said while addressing the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, reports Dawn.

The report said that the Pakistani PM regretted issues that have kept the two countries apart had hampered the promotion of bilateral trade and investment.

“This has to come to a stop,” he said, adding, “but the onus remains on India to take the necessary steps for meaningful and result oriented-engagement.

Pakistan desires peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including India, Sharif said, maintaining that this can happen only after India brings peace to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Ass per Dawn report, Sharif, however, said, the “onus remains on India to take a necessary step to engage towards the result-oriented solutions.”