In a major gesture, the Pakistan army had said that it is willing to back the political leadership's initiative for normalisation of relations with India.

Pakistan's army chief General Bajwa said that relations with all neighbours had to be normalised. According to a couple of senators, Bajwa urged the political leaders to try and improve relations with India and assured that the efforts will be fully supported by the Pakistan army.

The general's offer was particularly significant because Indians allege that the Pakistan army has been blocking peace efforts.

Notwithstanding the army chief's proposal, the prospects of progress towards normalisation remain dim because of Indian intransigence.

At the same time, Gen Bajwa reminded the legislators that a large part of Indian military deployments was mostly against Pakistan, even though it cited other threats.

He also recalled that India was fomenting instability and terrorism in Pakistan and had in this regard developed a strong nexus with Afghan intelligence agency NDS.