NEW YORK:  Indian Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, said that the onus of creating an environment for improving bilateral relations is more on Pakistan, the Press Trust of India reported today.

Jaitley made the remarks at a talk held at the New York-based think-tank Council on Foreign Relations on the second day of his 10-day visit to the US. He was answering a question on India’s foreign policy.

“With Pakistan, the border frequently becomes tensed, where there are exchanges on that border,” Jaitley said,  “I think the message in the context of Pakistan is that India is interested in improving the relationship with Pakistan and therefore the onus of the responsibility for creating an environment in which the relationship can grow would also depend much more on Pakistan and the kind of provocation that comes from there.”

Jaitley added that the message that India is interested in normalising relations with Pakistan and that the onus for this is on Pakistan has been “loud and clear”.

India and Pakistan have lately been involved in a war of words with Modi making statements criticising Pakistan during a recent visit to Dhaka.