New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan expressing Delhi's commitment to pursue a "meaningful and constructive engagement" with Islamabad, sources said on Monday, adding the letter emphasised the need for a terror-free subcontinent.

The letter had been kept under wraps till Monday, when Pakistan's new foreign minister Shah Mohammad Qureshi referred to it at a media conference in Islamabad.

There was no official word on the letter till late in the night but informed sources said Modi had written to Khan on August 18 to congratulate him on the day he was sworn in as Pakistan's 22nd Prime Minister.

It was the second time Modi had contacted Khan in three weeks. The first was several days after Pakistan's election last month had put the former cricketer in a position to become the Premier.

Modi's willingness to pursue a "meaningful and constructive engagement" with Pakistan is the first response of sorts to Khan's offer of a dialogue with India on all outstanding matters, including the "core issue" of Kashmir.

Khan had called for talks with India in his victory speech on national television last month but India had till date not responded to it, with even Modi sidestepping the issue in his telephonic conversation with him.

In his letter to Khan, the Prime Minister is said to have expressed the belief that the smooth transition of government in Pakistan would strengthen and cement people's belief in democracy.

He is said to have recalled their telephone conversation when they spoke of their shared vision to bring peace, security and prosperity in the subcontinent to make it free of terror and violence and focus on development.

Modi, sources said, also expressed India's commitment to build good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan.

The Prime Minister sent his letter on a day his party was fulminating over the presence of Punjab minister Navtoj Singh Sidhu at Khan's swearing-in where he hugged Pakistan's army chief, angering the right-wing ecosystem further.

In the clamour for retribution the cricketer-turned-politician, who started his political career in the BJP before moving to the Congress, was also reprimanded by his chief minister Amarinder Singh.

Three-room house

Khan on Monday moved into a modest three-bedroom house of his military secretary along with two helps, a day after announcing that he would not be staying in the sprawling Prime Minister's residence, which has a staff of 524.

Border forces

The Border Security Force and the Pakistani Rangers also talked peace, the commitment by the two sides coming in a year that is turning out to be the deadliest for security forces and civilians on either side of the border.

Ceasefire violations have been on the rise and even on Monday Pakistani troops fired mortar shells in the Uri sector of the Line of Control in North Kashmir's Baramulla district. Officials said some shells landed in Kamalkote village in Uri, triggering retaliation from the Indian side. There were no reports of casualties.

A BSF spokesperson said a sector commander-level meeting with the Rangers was held at the Octroi Border Outpost in Jammu, with the focus on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border. "Cdrs (commanders) on both sides agreed to keep talks on at every level to develop confidence between two border guarding forces," he said.

He also said the meeting was likely to "bring hassle-free environment, particularly for border area farmers on both sides".

The BSF has lost 11 men to Pakistani shelling this year, against just eight the force lost in four years between 2014 and 2017.

The toll in Pakistani shelling since January was 50 till July - 26 civilians and 24 security personnel - or 20 more than the toll for the whole of last year. There were more than a thousand ceasefire violations by Pakistan till May this year.

Additional reporting by Our Special Correspondent in Srinagar