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Pakistan, India conclude opening session of talks

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Feb 16, IRNA - Senior Pakistani and Indian officials 
wrapped up on Monday the opening session of three-day talks, which 
will set agenda for sustained dialogue over Kashmir and other 
issues of dispute, sources in the Foreign Office said. 
"The first session, held in very cordial atmosphere was 
concluded by lunch time," the sources said. 
The officials started dialogue on a broad range of issues prior 
to higher-level talks on Wednesday. 
In the first round, Arun Kumar Singh, a joint secretary in the 
Indian External Affairs Ministry co-chaired the Indian delegation 
with his Pakistani counterpart Jaleel Abbas Jilani. 
The two sides picked up the threads from the last round of 
meetings involving the foreign secretaries of the two countries 
nearly seven years ago. 
Confidence-building measures in the nuclear field are expected 
to be included in their discussions. 
The two officials will prepare the ground for talks on Wednesday 
between Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank and his Pakistani 
counterpart, Riaz Khokar. 
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister 
Atal Behari Vajpayee met last month on the fringes of the South 
Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) summit in 
Islamabad and agreed that the talks would focus on all contentious 
issues affecting bilateral ties. 
Such a composite dialogue was previously opposed by Pakistan, 
which had demanded Kashmir be tackled before other matters. 
But there has been a change in thinking on both sides and outside 
observers now see grounds for cautious optimism. 
Peace talks failed in the Indian city of Agra three years ago 
because the meeting was rushed, the observers say. 
"This time the process is more methodical and not burdened by 
sky-high expectations of success," they say. 
Several confidence-building measures have been introduced over 
the past eight months, including a resumption of rail, air and bus 
links and strengthening diplomatic ties. 
A ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) separating the parts of 
disputed Kashmir which each side administers is still holding and 
recently India has acknowledged Pakistani success in preventing 
incursions by fighters across the LoC. 
India demands renewed commitment from Pakistan to crack down 
on militant "infiltration". 
"Pakistan will be looking for movement from India on human 
rights and policing in the region under Delhi`s administration," 
sources added. 
Although little substantive progress is expected from this first 
meeting, it will provide indications of how open both sides are to 
addressing their long-standing disputes, diplomats say. 
The talks mark the latest step in a recent thaw in relations 
which had nose-dived with an attack on the Indian parliament by 
gunmen in December 2001. 
Last April, Vajpayee offered a gesture of friendship in a 
landmark speech in Indian-occupied Kashmir. 
India and Pakistan then re-established top-level diplomatic 
ties and resumed some transport links. 
After the SAARC meeting last month, the first steps of the new 
dialogue were taken when a faction of Kashmiri leaders met the 
Indian leadership. 
In a joint statement, they called for an end to Kashmir 
violence. However, several armed groups have pledged to continue 
their armed campaign until Indian troops leave Kashmir. 
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since 
their independence in 1947 from the British colonial rule, but a 
ceasefire is now in effect. 
TK/TSH/213 
End