Indo-Pak diplomats swap peace ideas
Reuters, Islamabad
Top diplomats from India and Pakistan discussed proposals yesterday to push forward a nascent peace process between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals, but officials declined to say what they were. The breakfast meeting between the heads of the two foreign ministries, held on the sidelines of a regional trade forum, was the fifth this year and prepared the ground for talks between their foreign ministers scheduled for Thursday. "We had good talks. The spirit was good, the discussions were good," Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Shashank, who uses one name. "We have discussed some ideas and they will be further discussed by our ministers," he told reporters. "It is not possible to disclose those ideas because they are for our ministers." Officials said the officials touched on some of the proposals discussed last month in New Delhi, site of their first talks in three years on the central dispute over Kashmir. "There has been no talk that things aren't moving forward. Talks are making progress and they will continue to make progress," Shashank said. Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh was expected in the Pakistani capital later yesterday for his first visit to Pakistan since his Congress party swept to power in polls in May. Political analysts say they do not expect a major breakthrough this week, and view the talks as another opportunity to build trust between the traditional foes. The two countries came to the brink of war in 2002, but the restoration of transport links and diplomatic missions, symbolic steps including an Indian cricket tour of Pakistan and resumption of formal dialogue have raised hopes of a lasting settlement. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the flashpoint region of Kashmir, which both countries claim. Analysts say officials' reticence to detail ideas being put forward reflects the sensitivity of the Kashmir dispute and the decades of mistrust that have soured ties since independence. Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri are due to talk again in late August following a series of six meetings dedicated to specific disputes ranging from water sharing to a Himalayan battlefield called the Siachen Glacier.
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