ISLAMABAD, 27 December 2004 — Pakistan and India are set to hold talks here today to review the progress of their ongoing peace process and discuss the thorny dispute of Kashmir, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
India’s Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar would begin their two-day talks today, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told AFP.
The top bureaucrats of Indian and Pakistani foreign ministries would also review the step-by-step peace process called composite dialogue started in January this year and prepare a schedule of future meetings, he said.
The talks are being held “to clear the air, to gauge movement, to invest the process with fresh energy and to prepare for the future,” Khan said.
“The foreign secretary level talks have a pivotal role in the composite dialogue. They discuss Kashmir, peace and security and keep track of talks on other issues.”
Saran has said Pakistan can play an effective role in economic cooperation in South Asia. The Indian official yesterday visited Peshawar accompanied by his wife and son.
He said economic cooperation in South Asia would benefit many countries of the region including Pakistan and India. He said trade between India and Afghanistan through Pakistan would be beneficial for the three countries. Saran said the Indian government wants friendly relations with Pakistan and the dialogue process should be taken forward.
The India foreign secretary was given a briefing about the Pak-Afghan border on the Machni checkpoint and was told about the historical importance of the area.
India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in May 1998 and came close to an atomic war in 2002 over Kashmir, which is divided between the two and claimed by both in full.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said his country was prepared to show flexibility in the lingering dispute over Kashmir if India does the same.
“We will be flexible when the other side also shows flexibility,” Musharraf told a dinner audience including local politicians and the US ambassador on Thursday, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
In October Musharraf set out suggestions for resolving the dispute, including demilitarizing Kashmir and either placing it under United Nations mandate, putting it under joint control or giving it independence.
