India rejects push for better ties

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 yesterday.

Pakistan's coup-prone military traditionally sees relations with India as its of responsibility, even during civilian rule.

Sharif's aim to improve ties with India was widely seen as cause of friction with the army, though tension has eased since last year when the military helped calm anti-government protests.

A government insider said at the time Sharif would stay in power but had to "share space" with the army on issues such as relations with India and security.