Voicing “a great sense of confidence, optimism and
determination,” India and Pakistan on Thursday opened their two-day
Foreign Secretary-level talks here and discussed the issue of peace and
security, including confidence-building measures on Kashmir.
Foreign
Secretary Nirupama Rao, who arrived here on Thursday morning, and her
Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir began the first round of their
talks, which have been divided in three segments.
The
first round of parleys is dealing with the issue of peace and security,
including confidence-building measures on Kashmir. On Friday, two more
rounds will take place on the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and promotion
of friendly exchanges.
At the beginning of the
talks, Mr. Bashir said they were approaching the parleys with a “great
sense of confidence, optimism and determination.” Agreeing with him,
Ms. Rao said this was an “apt” statement.
Mr. Bashir
said this is an important point in the relationship and will also help
the two sides to prepare the agenda for the ministerial meeting in the
near future.
Ms. Rao said “we have a clear agenda in
front of us for discussions” and noted that there have been good
meetings in the past few months.
“We are approaching these talks with an open and constructive mind,” she said.
The
two sides first held restricted talks, which were followed by the
delegation-level meeting in which Ms. Rao was accompanied by Joint
Secretary (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran) Yash Sinha, Joint Secretary
(Nuclear Disarmament) Venkatesh Verma, Indian High Commissioner Sharat
Sabharwal and other senior officials.
Warmly
welcoming the Indian side, Mr. Bashir said “We wish to engage with you
in not only walking the trajectory but also exploring new avenues
further.”
“This series of meetings is of great importance,” he said.
Soon
after her arrival in Islamabad, Ms. Rao had said she had come to
Pakistan with “an open mind and a constructive spirit” in order to work
towards building trust and confidence in bilateral relationship and
thereby leading to an eventual normalisation of ties for the well being
and prosperity of the people of the two countries.
She
said “this is an important visit as it marks the penultimate leg of the
resumed dialogue process before the visit of the Foreign Minister of
Pakistan to India by July 2011” and added that they would discuss the
issues that have been mandated to them by their leadership.
During the two-day talks, nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures would also be discussed.
Earlier
this year, the two countries decided to resume talks on all bilateral
issues under the Composite Dialogue, two years after the parleys were
suspended in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Following
the resumption of talks in February, the Defence, Interior and Commerce
Secretaries have met in the last few months while Pakistan Prime
Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani visited India in March to watch the
India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final at the invitation of his
counterpart Manmohan Singh.
The Foreign Secretaries
will also take stock of the progress made in the meetings between the
Interior, Commerce and Defence Secretaries. PTI
