KHUNDRU (Agencies) – India's prime minister said Sunday he wants “normalized” relations with Pakistan amid rising tensions between the South Asian rivals following the Mumbai attacks that left more than 160 people dead.

Singh said India was committed to resolving all outstanding issues, including Kashmir with Pakistan through dialogue.
Addressing an election rally in Khundroo in Indian-held Kashmir, he said India wants normalization of relations with Pakistan, but only after Islamabad prevented its territory from being used to attack India.
Singh said, “We cannot change the borders but lessen the restrictions on travel between the two countries.” He said India would continue its fight against terrorism. More links with Pakistan would be reopened for greater people-to-people contacts and to improve trade relations.
Singh traveled to Khundru town in Kashmir after a breakfast meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in New Delhi. The two leaders discussed the attacks on Mumbai.
India finds itself in the awkward position of having to investigate terrorist attacks hand-in-hand with its longtime nemesis. The two countries have fought three wars against each other since independence. Despite a peace process that began in 2004, tensions remain high.
Thousands of soldiers used barbed wire and metal barricades to seal off all approach roads to Khundru ahead of Singh's visit.
The prime minister addressed the rally ahead of the sixth of seven rounds of voting in state elections. The elections for Kashmir's state legislature started Nov. 17 and end Dec. 24. Voters cast their ballots in the fifth phase on Saturday as scattered clashes between protesters and government forces left one person dead.
Khundru lies just south of Srinagar, the main city in the region, which was largely deserted Sunday after authorities placed restrictions on public gatherings and separatist groups called a strike to protest Singh's visit.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where most people favor independence from mainly Hindu India or a merger with Pakistan. Kashmir is divided between the two rival countries and both claim it in its entirety.