India, Pakistan FS talks today

Islamabad, Jun 23 (PTI) The Foreign Secretaries of
India and Pakistan are meeting here Thursday for crucial talks
on the Kashmir issue and confidence-building measures aimed at
boosting the peace process between them that was resumed
earlier this year.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is scheduled to
arrive in Islamabad this morning for two-day talks with her
Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
They will discuss peace and security, including
nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures, the
Kashmir issue and promotion of friendly exchanges.
The meeting between the two top diplomats is part of
the dialogue process that was revived following a meeting
between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani
counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimpu, Bhutan in April last
year on the sidelines of a SAARC Summit.
The talks process, referred to as a "full spectrum
dialogue", was resumed earlier this year after a gap of over
two years in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that
were blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The Foreign Secretaries will hold two rounds of talks,
officials said.
They will discuss peace and security-related issues
today while the Kashmir issue and promotion of friendly
exchanges will be taken up Friday.
The talks on peace and security will be aimed at
streamlining existing Kashmir-related confidence-building
measures, including the system of border crossing points for
Kashmiris and cross-Line of Control trade, a senior Indian
official said on condition of anonymity.
"The crossing points and cross-LoC trade have helped
enhance trust," said the official, familiar with preparations
at the highest level for the talks.
The two sides will also focus on existing conventional
and nuclear CBMs and liberalising the visa regime that has
remained unchanged since 1974, the official said.
"They will look at the existing CBMs, such as the
ceasefire on the LoC and the advance notification of missiles
tests, and see how we can proceed," he said.
The official said both sides should have "reasonable
expectations" regarding the talks "because of the complexities
involved".
Asked whether the Indian side would focus on the
Mumbai attacks and new revelations made by Pakistani-American
terror suspect David Headley about the Inter-Services
Intelligence agency's links to the attackers, the official
refused to go into details but said the two countries would
proceed with their dialogue but this did not mean that
incidents like the Mumbai attacks could take a "backseat".
The India-Pakistan dialogue process was halted
following the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai.
Following the resumption of talks in February, the
defence, interior and trade secretaries have met in the last
few months while Prime Minister Gilani visited India in March
to watch the India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final at
the invitation of his counterpart.
The Foreign Secretaries are also expected to review
the results of the meetings between the Interior, Commerce and
Defence secretaries and finalise dates for the meeting of the
two Foreign Minister to be held in New Delhi next month. PTI
RHL
KAP