India, Pakistan foreign secretaries meet for 3 hours
The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met for three hours
on Tuesday, the start of their two-day talks to thrash out outstanding
differences, including the most contentious -- on Jammu and Kashmir.
Foreign Secretary K Raghunath and
Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed told reporters that they
had met in a cordial atmosphere and would continue their discussions
on Wednesday. Both men expressed their determination to
carry forward the dialogue begun in March.
Ahmed said both sides had expressed their determination to
carry forward the process of dialogue in a meaningful and purposeful
manner. Raghunath endorsed Ahmed's statement and added that the
talks were ''constructive, cordial and frank.''
The Pakistan delegation will leave for home on
Thursday when a joint statement on the talks is expected to be
issued.
The two delegations at the talks will focus
on establishing a mechanism to address various bilateral issues in
an integrated manner.
At the last round held in Islamabad, the two countries had decided to set up six working groups on different issues -- Siachen, Wullar barrage or Tulbul hydel
project, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and
commercial cooperation, and promotion of friendly exchanges in
various fields -- and entrusted the task of resolving the Kashmir, peace and security
issues to the foreign secretaries.
The six-member Indian delegation included India's High
Commissioner to Islamabad Satish Chandra and Joint Secretary
(Afghanistan-Pakistan) Vivek Katju.
The Pakistan delegation consisted of
Senior Special Secretary Tariq Altaf, Additional Secretary Khalid
Salim, and Director, Kashmir affairs, Babar Alamgir.
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