India, Pakistan agree to resume peace talks

Rameez Bhatt:

New Delhi: India and Pakistan on Thursday agreed to resume the staled dialogue process and resumption of talks 'on all issues' including the vexed Kashmir issue. Pakistani officials confirmed that they have reached an agreement with India to resume dialogue "on all issues", more than two years after peace talks collapsed, and said its foreign minister would visit India by July. India and Pakistan have agreed to begin talks on "all outstanding" bilateral issues, signalling a possible resumption of their suspended peace dialogue.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said officials from both sides would meet "in the coming weeks and months" to carry out "the necessary spadework" that would culminate in a meeting of the two rivals' foreign ministers -- possibly in June or July.

"We have to pick up the threads again," Prakash told mediamen, adding that "all outstanding issues" would be up for discussion.

However, he declined to confirm whether this meant a resumption of the full-fledged peace process -- known as the "composite dialogue" -- that was suspended in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which claimed 166 lives.

"This is still a step-by-step approach which is necessary to narrow the trust deficit," he said.

"We are trying to work out a way to take the process forward," he added.

There was no immediate comment from the Pakistani side.