UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomes India-Pakistan talks

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the talks between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan held on the sidelines of the General Assembly here as he stressed the importance of India's role in South Asia.

Ban met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid yesterday and discussed regional developments in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Myanmar, stressing the importance of dialogue, inclusiveness and reconciliation, as well as India's regional role.

The UN chief "welcomed the recent talks held between India and Pakistan," a statement issued from Ban's office said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif over the weekend in a closely-watched hour-long meeting during which he raised the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil and asked Islamabad to do more to curb cross--border terrorism.

Ban thanked India for its significant contribution to UN peacekeeping operations and its "generous" assistance to development of Afghan security, economic and human capacities.

He lauded India's leadership in the post-2015 development agenda, building capacity for disaster management, and in vital efforts to promote international agreement on climate change issues.