ISLAMABAD: Senior Indian and Pakistani officials yesterday agreed to implement effectively their regime for trade and travel across the de facto border in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
The consensus was reached in a working group meeting in which the Pakistani delegation was headed by Foreign Ministry’s Director General for South Asia Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry while the Indian side was led by Indian External Affairs Ministry’s Joint Secretary T.C.A. Raghvan.
Representatives of various ministries of both countries also participated in the talks. “The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement issued after the discussions. The talks focused on launch of a truck service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar.
The talks, part of a peace process launched in 2004, would focus on trade and transport links between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry earlier said.
The two nuclear-armed archrivals launched a so-called peace process in 2004 and since then had taken several “confidence-building measures” to normalize their straining relations. However, no headway has been made toward settling the decades-old Kashmir dispute.
As part of the process, the two countries are also observing a cease-fire on LoC for the last four years, but in recent months there have been occasional violations of the truce.
Meanwhile, seeking to project the impression that it’s business as usual even as the Indian government seeks a trust vote July 22, India and Pakistan will launch the fifth round of composite dialogue during their two-day talks that begin Monday in New Delhi.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will arrive in New Delhi tomorrow night for crucial talks with his Indian counterpart Shivshankar Menon the next day.
The two top officials will discuss an entire spectrum of bilateral relationship and hold talks on Jammu and Kashmir and peace and security that will mark the launch of the fifth round of composite dialogue that also covers other areas like the disputes over Siachen Glaciers and Sir Creek.
— With input from agencies
