Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan began historic meetings yesterday to prepare for a sustained peace dialogue on Kashmir and other disputes that have kept the neighbors at loggerheads for decades.
But violence continued in Kash-mir, with suspected militants killing a local politician in India's part of the Himalayan territory. In Paki-stan's portion, more than 500 people protested the meeting, saying neither country cared for the fate of Kashmiris.
Pakistan is keen to show quick progress during the three days of talks, which also are likely to cover confidence-building measures in the nuclear field to avoid an accident -- especially considering admissions of leaks of nuclear technology by the father of Pakistan's nuclear program.
The dialogue between the countries was first agreed to in 1997 and reaffirmed by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpa-yee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf during a January meeting in Islamabad on the fringes of a regional summit.
The two leaders had previously met for a failed peace summit in July 2001 in Agra, India.
Jalil Abbas Jilani, a director-general in Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, and Arun Kumar Singh, a joint secretary in India's External Affairs Ministry, shook hands and smiled before the start of yesterday's meeting. The sides met for nearly two hours in the morning before breaking for lunch.
In New Delhi, India's External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha expressed hope for the talks' success.
"I am quite optimistic over the outcome of this round of talks," which he noted would deal with the future agenda and other details for later meetings, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
In the latest violence, suspected separatist rebels shot and killed a local politician yesterday in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, police said.
Two police officers nearby raced to the scene and opened fire on the assailants. One officer was killed and the other wounded. The attackers fled.
RSS