TOP DIPLOMATS from India and Pakistan held their first formal talks on Kashmir in two-and-a-half years, meeting in Islamabad today to nudge forward their slow-moving peace process.
Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao is due to hold two days of talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
"I have come to Pakistan with an open mind and a constructive spirit in order to work towards building trust and confidence," Rao said in a statement on her arrival in Pakistan.
This should lead to "an eventual normalisation of relations for the well-being and prosperity of our two peoples."
The foreign secretaries will prepare for a meeting of foreign ministers in India in July 2011.
India broke off peace talks with Pakistan after the attack by Pakistan-based militants on Mumbai in November 2008.
Earlier this year, the two countries held talks on a range of issues including a border dispute over a river estuary, a conflict over the Siachen glacier – the world's highest battlefield – and ways to build commercial ties.
The foreign secretary-level talks are expected to improve ties between the two neighbours, but the two sides do not expect any major breakthrough.
