Delhi pledges co-op with new Pak PM

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf (2L) administers the oath of office to newly elected Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (R) in Islamabad yesterday. The former finance minister and Musharraf's key loyalist Aziz took the oath of office as the country's new prime minister, one day after his parliamentary election was boycotted by the entire opposition. PHOTO: AFP

Singh, who has himself only been in office for just over three months, said he hoped nuclear-ready rivals India and Pakistan could move forward the peace process which they began in earnest in March.

"It is my sincere hope that we can build upon recent positive developments and take forward the process of dialogue, in an atmosphere free from terrorism and violence," Singh told Pakistan's new prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, who was sworn in Saturday.

"I would like to reaffirm my government's commitment to strengthening friendship and cooperation with Pakistan," he said.

"In the recent past, our people have once again shown their strong desire for peace and harmony between our two countries, and to have the opportunity for good neighbourly and cooperative relations."

A series of talks have been held between the arch-rivals since March in a step-by-step approach to bury decades of hostilities over Kashmir, a stunning Himalayan region claimed by both but divided between them since 1948.

Earlier former finance minister and President Pervez Musharraf's key loyalist Shaukat Aziz took the oath of office yesterday as the country's new prime minister, one day after his parliamentary election was boycotted by the entire opposition.

Aziz, 55, won 191 votes in Friday's elections by the 342-member national assembly in the absence of opposition members who boycotted the vote to protest the parliamentary speaker's refusal to allow their jailed candidate, Javed Hashmi, to attend the session.