Friday, February 25 2005 09:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Favouring greater people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the ongoing "process of engagement and confidence-building" would bridge differences between them.

"Greater people-to-people contact would open the doors to a better appreciation of perspectives," he said in a message to the organisers of the seventh joint convention of the Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy, which gets under way New Delhi from today (Feb 25, 2005).

The message was released to the media by the organisers yesterday (Feb 24, 2005).

Singh said that the four-day event, in which 350 delegates each from India and Pakistan will participate, was "another example of the desire among our people for peace and friendship. We need to build further on this foundation."

The Prime Minister said India attached "great importance to the ongoing process of engagement and confidence-building with Pakistan".

"This process will help us in bridging differences and in fulfilling the promise of friendship and cooperation between the two countries," he said.