NEW DELHI, Feb 25: Indian President Pratibha Patil, inaugurating the parliament’s budget session on Monday, reaffirmed New Delhi’s commitment to friendship with Pakistan and said her government was ready to resume the dialogue process with Islamabad soon.

India was equally committed to helping Afghanistan become a pluralistic and prosperous society, she said.

“We are committed to peace, friendship and good neighbourly relations with Pakistan,” Mrs Patil told a customary joint meeting of the parliament’s two chambers. “A stable and prosperous Pakistan, at peace with itself, is in the interests of our entire region.

“When conditions permit we will resume our dialogue process with Pakistan, aimed at building mutual confidence and resolving outstanding issues, premised on an atmosphere free from terror and violence.”

She said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government, in the last lap of its five-year term which ends in May next year, was pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to ensure peace, normalcy and development in Jammu & Kashmir.

The government, she said, “is working on a holistic approach aimed at confidence building amongst all sections of society, easier travel across the LoC, better governance and closer attention to the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.”

At the same time the UPA government has taken several steps to promote the modernisation and welfare of the armed forces and ensure defence preparedness of India. “The successful launch of Agni-III Missile and the induction of BrahMos Missile System into our armed forces constitute major milestones in the upgradation of our defence technology,” the president said.

India’s ties with China had progressed into a “Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity”. This partnership, she said, “has been further enhanced and given a global dimension with the signing of a Shared Vision for the 21st Century during the visit of the prime minister to China last month.”