India, Pakistan discuss peace, security
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, July 5, IRNA -- India and Pakistan on Wednesday discussed peace and security as well as Jammu and Kashmir on day one of the two-days Foreign Secretary level talks began in New Delhi.
At the end of the two sessions Wednesday the official spokesperson in Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akabaruddin said the Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani along with their respective delegations, have had 'two full sessions of detailed discussions covering all aspects of the agenda under the items Peace and Security as well as Jammu and Kashmir.'
“The Foreign Secretaries, assisted by senior officials of both sides, including the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sharat Sabharwal and Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate to India, Salman Bashir. have agreed to resume the talks Thursday with a view to completing all the items scheduled for consideration, said Akbaruddin.
He said that the talks on Thursday will be followed by a Joint Media Interaction. Subsequently, the visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary will call upon the External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna. At the culmination of the official engagements of the Pakistani Foreign Secretary in India a Joint Statement will be issued, the spokesperson added.
Jilani who arrived here Tuesday said: 'Let me tell you that I have brought a message of goodwill, peace and prosperity from the people of Pakistan for the people of India and the leadership of India....I am looking forward to a very constructive dialogue with my counterpart Ranjan Mathai,' Jilani said after his arrival here.
Jilani also said, 'I have been mandated by the leadership to move this peace process forward.'
As the meeting is taking place in the backdrop of the deportation from Saudi Arabia of Zabiuddin, aka Abu Jundal, who has revealed that he, along with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, was in the control room in Pakistan during 26/11 Mumbai carnage, New Delhi is expected to flag the issue.
Apart from terror, the issue of release of Indian prisoner Sarabjeet Singh, who is on death row for the last 20 years, is also expected to be taken up by India.
The Indo-Pak dialogue, which was stalled following the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, resumed last year with both sides holding a series of meetings on the eight components under the 'Composite Dialogue' format, including terrorism, Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and Trade.
The two countries have already had four segments including terrorism, trade and water in the past few months with two more -on Siachen and Sir Creek- slated for this month as part of the second round of talks.
Meanwhile, the meeting between the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan has been postponed since the dates were clashing with the Presidential poll here.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was expected to travel to Islamabad on July 18-19 to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar after the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries met in Delhi.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 80215209
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