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| Tuesday, 23 November 2004 |
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India committed to continuing peace talks with Pakistan: PM GUWAHATI, India, Monday (AFP) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India was committed to continuing peace talks with Pakistan, amid a verbal spat between the arch-rivals ahead of a visit by Pakistani Premier Shaukat Aziz. "We are very serious about the composite dialogue. We want it to progress and progress well," Singh told reporters in Imphal, capital of northeastern Manipur state. Composite dialogue is the name given to the process in which officials and politicians from the two countries are discussing eight key points of dispute, including Kashmir. The first round of the talks, which began in February, was completed in September. The second round kicks off on November 29. Aziz is due to pay a two-day visit to New Delhi starting Tuesday during which he will discuss "bilateral relations, confidence building and the dialogue process," Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said. Singh told media briefing, broadcast by a regional television channel, that he was confident India and Pakistan could "solve all outstanding issues and problems through peaceful negotiations." He looked forward, he added, to a "fruitful exchange of views" during Aziz's visit. The Indian leader's comments follow remarks by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last week that he was disheartened by signals from New Delhi over resolving the 57-year Kashmir dispute. In an interview with AFP on Thursday Musharraf said he was "not encouraged" by the signals coming from India and accused New Delhi of failing to show flexibility. Musharraf's remarks were in response to comments by Singh during a visit to Kashmir in which he rejected division of the Himalayan region on religious lines or the redrafting of its borders. Commenting on Musharraf's statements, Singh quipped, "Flexibility does not come with stray words." "We should move forward with sincerity," he added. |
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