Though the two days of peace talks between India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir, ended without any major breakthroughs, yet the meeting is being seen as a mechanism to ease tension between the two neighbours.
Relations between the two nations have been strained since the 26/11 , 2008, attack by Pakistani militants on
Mumbai, in which more than 160 people were killed. That led to a suspension of peace talks, which only were re-launched in earnest in February.
During the meeting India asked Pakistan to bring the 26/11 trial to a satisfactory closure. In a joint statement, at the end of the two-day foreign secretary level talks here, the two sides agreed on exploring additional Kashmir related confidence building measures and combating terror jointly.
Describing justice for Mumbai terror attack victims as a critical issue, Foreign Secretary Mrs Nirupama Rao said at a joint press conference that satisfactory closure of the Mumbai trial was a must for normalisation of relations between the two countries.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Mr. Salman Bashir said, while he understood India’s concerns over terror, the two countries should focus on combating the menace jointly.
Mrs. Rao made it clear that the resumed dialogue process can continue only in an atmosphere free from terror and violence. She said that the talks aim at building greater trust between the two countries.
The Kashmir specific CBMs include launch of Kargil – Skardu road link, increasing the frequency of bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad and increase in trading. The two sides decided to carry out the dialogue process in a constructive and forward looking manner. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries are meeting in New Delhi next month to take forward the dialogue process.