India, Pakistan discuss transport links in Kashmir (Roundup)

South Asia News

Jul 18, 2008, 15:25 GMT

Islamabad - Senior Indian and Pakistani officials on Friday agreed to implement effectively their regime for trade and travel across the de facto border in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. The consensus was reached in a working group meeting in which the Pakistani delegation was headed by Foreign Ministry's Director General for South Asia Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry while the Indian side was led by Indian External Affairs Ministry's Joint Secretary TCA Raghvan. 'The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere,' Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement issued after the discussions. Foreign ministers of the two South Asian neighbours had decided in May that the working group would hold discussions to promote confidence-building measures across the Line of Control (LoC). The meeting was scheduled for July 10 but had to be postponed because the Indian diplomat who was to lead it flew to Afghan capital Kabul after the deadly suicide attack on the Indian embassy that killed at least 60 people. Though the talks were expected to focus on launch of Muzaffarabad-Srinagar truck service and opening of more routes for passenger bus service, the statement did not mention any progress on the proposals. The two nuclear-armed archrivals launched a so-called peace process in 2004 and since then had taken several 'confidence-building measures' to normalize their straining relations. However, no headway has been made towards settling the decades-old Kashmir dispute. As part of the process, the two countries are also observing a ceasefire on LoC for the last four years, but in recent months there have been occasional violations of the truce. In May, India alleged that one of its soldiers was killed in 'unprovoked firing' by Pakistani troops in Poonch district along the border.

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India, Pakistan discuss transport links in Kashmir (Roundup)

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