Online edition of Daily News

The leaders of India and Pakistan met on Monday for the first time in more than two years, seeking to cast aside the enmity that took their nuclear-armed countries to the brink of war in 2002.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf talked for an hour and five minutes on the sidelines of a South Asia summit, according to Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid.

"Detailed discussions were held," he said. "The meeting was held in a good atmosphere."

Leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) pose for photographs following a collective call in Islamabad, January 04. The 12th SAARC summit opened with Jamali delivering the inaugural speech, professing optimism that the 18-year old forum could be reinvigorated in its first summit in two years. (From left) Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali, Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Bangaldeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley. (AFP)

Pakistani state television showed the two men seated about a metre (yard) apart facing forwards, turning to chat to each other for the benefit of the cameras before the meeting got under way properly.

They were accompanied by their foreign ministers, foreign secretaries and high commissioners.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra were also present, officials said.

Speaking before the meeting, Vajpayee, who is paying his first visit to Pakistan in almost five years, called for talks between the neighbours to resolve disputes that have plagued relations since independence from Britain in 1947.

"It is necessary that the two countries have adequate representation and that dialogue goes on continuously, that we understand each other's difficulties and find a way out together," he said in a speech.

Diplomats call Vajpayee's meeting with Musharraf a step in the process of rebuilding relations and a chance for both men to advance a shaky peace process.

But it is thought unlikely to yield any major breakthrough in their decades-old dispute over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, barring perhaps an agreement to resume a lower-level dialogue.

"It really is a fundamental step forward when you look at how far we've come in the last few months," said one Western diplomat. "But the big question is whether they have moved any closer to each other on the core issue of Kashmir."

Kashmir is the main obstacle to progress between the two countries. It has been divided between the rivals since a war which followed independence. The bitter dispute has cost tens of thousands of lives since then.

Two years ago the neighbours again came to the brink of war over Kashmir, after an attack on the parliament in New Delhi that India blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.

But in April, Vajpayee launched a "final bid" for peace in his lifetime. Since then full diplomatic relations have been resumed and some travel links have been reinstated.

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough came in November when Pakistan announced a ceasefire along the front line in Kashmir. That has since held, though violence has continued in Indian Kashmir between security forces and Muslim separatist rebels.

With Vajpayee expected to stand down at elections later this year and Musharraf promising to give up his army uniform at the end of 2004 - although he will remain president - diplomats say both men appear keen to move the process forward. What is less clear is if they will find any middle ground.

"These are two men who both have an eye on their place in history," said a diplomat. "But there is an awfully long way to go once the two countries get to the negotiating table over Kashmir."

Vajpayee and Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali already held surprise ice-breaking talks after the summit's opening, fuelling hopes for peace between the region's superpowers who were on the brink of their fourth war at the last SAARC summit.

Vajpayee and Jamali met privately for 15 minutes before being joined by their foreign ministers, foreign secretaries and senior envoys.

"It's a good beginning and we hope this will culminate in a dialogue. This should culminate in a dialogue," Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said afterwards.

"The two leaders agreed that the momentum in bilateral relations should be maintained."

"If we can move forward to a composite dialogue from here it will crown the SAARC achievements," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP.

State-run Pakistan Television (PTV) showed footage of Jamali, Vajpayee and senior officials sitting together during their talks. PTV said they discussed "close co-operation and other matters of mutual interest".

SAARC leaders including Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Bhutan Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley, Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Nepal Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga as well as Vajpayee and Jamali will hold a retreat Monday to discuss a six-point agenda.

Top of the agenda is a framework treaty for transforming South Asia, home to a fifth of humanity and almost half of its poor, into a free trade zone from 2006.

Earlier Pakistani Musharraf called for an end to mistrust within South Asia on the eve of his first meeting with Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"South Asia must realise its destiny by confronting its problems, not shying away from them and refusing to acknowledge their existence," Musharraf said in an address to a banquet he hosted for the region's leaders. "We must put behind us the tarnished legacy of mistrust, bitterness and tension."

"The bitter truth is that SAARC will never achieve its full potential unless the disputes and tensions that draw us apart are resolved peacefully with justice and with equity," Musharraf said.