Pakistan, India to begin fourth round of peace talks

PAKISTAN: Pakistan and India were to launch a new round of peace talks here Tuesday focused on their dispute over Kashmir and on limiting nuclear and conventional arsenals in South Asia, officials said.

The two-day talks between Indian foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammed Khan mark the fourth round since a January 2004 deal to resume negotiations after a tense military standoff.

“They have two specific issues before them which they will discuss. These are Jammu and Kashmir dispute and peace and security,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said late Monday.

The three-year-old peace process has reduced mutual suspicion through a series of “confidence-building measures” including establishing transport links.

In an echo of previous Pakistani statements urging India to take a more proactive approach, Aslam said it was “important” to move forward on the Kashmir issue from confidence-building measures to actual dispute resolution.

“We believe that an early resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue will pave the way for durable peace in this region and bring about greater cooperation in South Asia,” she said.

Meanwhile Aslam said Pakistan had made proposals concerning the nuclear and conventional military balance between the neighbours, who conducted tit-for-tat atomic weapon tests in May 1998 and still test-fire missiles. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told lawmakers Thursday peace talks with Pakistan had brought “positive results.”

Islamabad, Tuesday, AFP