[1]India and Pakistan agreed Thursday to narrow their differences and take more confidence-building measures on issues ranging from terrorism, humanitarian matters and Jammu and Kashmir in an effort to bridge the “trust deficit”.
Foreign secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir, in a marked change from the acrimony seen in bilateral encounters since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, held “cordial and constructive” talks here Thursday in a bid to “understand each other’s position and concerns.”
India’s home minister P. Chidambaram will travel to Islamabad on Friday on a two-day visit, when he is expected to press for a probe on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba founder Hafiz Saeed, believed to be the mastermind behind the 26/11 attack, and seek voice samples of handlers of the Mumbai attackers. Mr Chidambaram, who is primarily going for the Saarc home ministers’ conference on Saturday, will meet Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik soon after reaching Islamabad.
Ms Nirupama Rao, the first senior Indian official to visit Pakistan since 26/11, said at a joint press conference with Mr Bashir: “Both countries should emphasise on reviving the disrupted dialogue process. We discussed modalities for restoring of trust and agreed that the dialogue process is the only way forward.”
She added: “We discussed all issues; obviously our core concerns on terrorism were also articulated.”
India’s focus was primarily on terrorism and humanitarian issues, while Pakistani sources said they also discussed ideas on Kashmir.
These proposals will be taken back to the political leaderships of the two sides so that they can be firmed up ahead of the meeting of the two foreign ministers to be held in Islamabad on July 15, the sources said.
While the sources did not provide specifics of proposals by both sides, they indicated the talks had gone “very well” and that the Pakistani side listened to India’s concerns without dismissing them out of hand.
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