NEW DELHI, 5 July 2007 — The fourth round of India-Pakistan talks ended here yesterday with both sides expressing their resolve to fight terrorism and militancy.
They also agreed to release all fishermen taken into custody when they strayed into each other’s waters and speed up the release of other civilian prisoners languishing in jails in the two countries.
Indian Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and Pakistan’s Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah, who led his team, held “frank and candid discussions” in a “constructive and friendly atmosphere,” according to a joint statement issued at the end of the talks.
The negotiations were, however, cut short yesterday as Kamal Shah returned to Islamabad late on Tuesday after trouble erupted at a mosque in Islamabad. The talks were due to end late yesterday but concluded earlier after Shah’s departure.
The peace talks launched in 2004 have made slow progress with some Indian officials saying that President Pervez Musharraf’s domestic political troubles this year had changed Islamabad’s priorities.
The joint statement said the neighbors agreed to step up cooperation to curb militant violence.
“India raised its concerns relating to terrorism and fugitives,” the statement said. “It was agreed that effective and sustained measures would be taken to combat the menace of terrorism. “It was also agreed that terrorists and criminals in either country would be effectively dealt with.”
The security talks are part of a larger peace process launched after the two countries came close to the brink of another war in 2002.
The two countries decided to mark their independence anniversary this year by releasing all prisoners who have been granted consular access, whose national status has been verified and who have completed their prison sentences. They also decided to take immediate steps to release the fishing boats, excluding trawlers, in each other’s custody.
To facilitate the release and repatriation of prisoners who have served their sentences, both sides agreed that the recently formed committee on prisoners, comprising eminent retired judges from the two countries, would serve as a “useful instrument.”
With respect to drug trafficking, they assessed as “positive” the “existing cooperation and information sharing” between the Narcotics Control Bureau of India and the Anti-Narcotics Force of Pakistan.
They agreed that both agencies would enhance mutual cooperation in terms of effective and sustained steps to control drug trafficking.
A memorandum of understanding between the two drug control agencies will be signed at the earliest possible, the statement said.
