ISLAMABAD, 30 October 2005 — Pakistani and Indian diplomats met yesterday to discuss opening the disputed border in quake-hit Kashmir after President Pervez Musharraf had offered to open the Line of Control which India had welcomed.

At the talks the Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary of the Indian External Affairs Ministry Dilip Sinha and the Pakistan side was headed by Sayed Ibne Abbas, director India Desk.

Both countries have agreed to open the Line of Control but true to South Asian diplomatic traditions the negotiators were bogged down in ironing out the nitty gritties before arriving at a possible plan. A joint statement is expected.

The talks were held amid United Nations warnings that time is running out for thousands of survivors stranded in the bitter Himalayan cold.

While hopes are mainly pinned on more international emergency aid for more than three million people without shelter, officials expect two-way movement across Kashmir may help mitigate the suffering of victims in the quake-devastated region.

The Indian delegation arrived late Friday after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh positively responded to Musharraf’s urgent call to ease the crossing of people on the heavily militarized frontier.

Ahead of the talks Pakistan expressed the hope that an agreement would be reached in talks to allow crossing at specific points on the Line of Control which separates the two parts of Kashmir.

“It is our hope that an agreement is reached between the two sides,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told AFP.

Officials said the first session at the foreign ministry lasted for two and a half hours. After a break the delegations went into a second round.

Islamabad formally proposed five locations for movement across the Line of Control while New Delhi has said it would set up facilities at three points.

The UN officials, meanwhile, said: “We need money now. If not we will be forced to scale down some of our operations, including food delivery.”

UN humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan Jan Vandemoortele told a news conference “We need the cash to keep the helicopters flying. It is now or never. We will not have a second chance.”

The UN is calling for more aid before the winter sets in.

Sunny weather has helped helicopter relief operations continue uninterrupted for the past week but a wave of aftershocks has added to worries for the survivors.

— With input from agencies.