"India has never been an aggressor nation, a colonizer or a hegemony in her long history. In modern times, we are alive to our responsibility to contribute to peace, friendship and cooperation both in our region and around the world," Vajpayee said inaugurating the Global Convention on Peace and Non-Violence here.

He said that the Islamabad Saarc summit was a major step forward in regional cooperation.

Strongly advocating that the countries in the region have to work to change South Asia's image and standing in the world, he said "India always believed in having peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with all her neighbours".

Recalling his speech at the summit that the countries must make the bold transition from mistrust to trust, from discord to concord and from tension to peace, he said "it is in the same spirit that my government has been trying to resolve all the outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue".