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23 March 2019•Update: 23 March 2019
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
In an unexpected move, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday extended “greetings and best wishes" to the people of Pakistan to mark National Day on March 23.
In a message to his Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan, Modi said: "It is time that Sub-continent (India and Pakistan) work together for a democratic, peaceful, progressive and prosperous region, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence."
Khan shared Modi's message through a tweet - -the first ever positive development in an ongoing tense atmosphere between the two nuclear nations.
Pakistani premier, for his part, welcomed Modi's message, saying, the time has come for composite dialogue to resolve all pending disputes, including Kashmir between the two countries.
Tensions between the two nuclear neighbors escalated following a suicide attack on a military convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir in February that killed at least 40 troops.
New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the brazen attack, a charge the latter denied.
The mounting tensions were further fueled by of Indian jets and bombing of an alleged terrorist facility inside Pakistan and subsequently combat in which two Indian fighter jets were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force, and captured a pilot. The captured pilot was later released by Pakistan as a "goodwill gesture."
Since then, the international community, including Turkey has been active to quell the rising tensions between the two sides.
