India and Pakistan continue high-level talks
Economic interests become a positive force in peace process over disputed Kashmir.
There have been stumbles, primarily over the highly
contested region of Kashmir, but the year-old peace process between the nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan continues to make progress.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's
first-ever visit to India on Tuesday to meet with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh further advances hopes for peace, reports
The Times of India.
The ostensible purpose of Mr. Aziz's visit is to discuss
mutual economic interests in southwest Asia, such as "plans for a pipeline that will bring natural gas from Iran through Pakistan to energy-hungry India," reports
ABC news. Pakistan has "has been keen on the project for years but it has not made much headway because of political tensions."
But analysts confide that the real talks between the two ministers will begin and end over Kashmir. Neither side expects major breakthroughs, but given recent developments, both are cautiously probing to see if the peace process can be furthererd.
In the last month Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf indicated that Kashmir should be de-militarized, and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that he would unilaterally cut troops in Kashmir.
These moves
eased tensions and fostered a climate where substantive issues might be considered, reports the
Times.
Aziz's visit is even more noteworthy, given that it takes place less than a week after Mr. Singh rejected any redrawing of India's borders or a further division of Kashmir. The statement had the effect of "pouring cold water" over Mr. Musharrat's proposals, says the
Times.
These talks are seen as a clear sign that each nation recognizes that its approach on Kashmir over the years is unsustainable.
'I think the fact that India has started to reduce its troops is welcome. This is from one particular area and we hope that this process will continue, particularly in the urban areas, where there is a large concentration of troops,' Mr. Aziz told
Reuters in an interview in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital. Concurrent with Aziz's visit, India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath is in Pakistan for talks between seven South Asian nations on a proposed free trade pact. He held a
bilateral meeting with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, reports
Forbes.
Pakistan and India agreed Tuesday to set up joint study group on how to promote trade and economic cooperation amid warming relations between their nuclear-armed, but impoverished, countries.
Peace between the two countries - whose dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir has sparked two wars - is also seen as vital to expanding trade among the other member states of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
Meanwhile, the US consulate in India's financial capital, Bombay, closed on Tuesday
following a tip from the FBI of possible terrorist attacks on Tuesday or Wednesday in Delhi or Bombay, reports the
BBC.
US embassy spokesman, David Kennedy, said: 'American citizens in Bombay consular areas [should] maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase security. We take the threat seriously enough.'
However, Maharashtra home minister RR Patil said: 'Our investigations have revealed that the threat information received by the United States regarding attacks on its offices in India was incorrect.'
Five people died in an attack on the US consulate in Calcutta in 2002 when heavily-armed gunmen on motorbikes killed five policemen and injured sixteen before escaping.
The motive for the prior attack remains unknown and there have been
no other such attacks on US buildings since then, reports the
Times of India.
Also...
•
Muslim terrorist group in India (
BBC)
•
Twin blasts cause Bombay carnage (
BBC
•
Economists hold the key to India-Pakistan dialogue (
Indo-Asian News Service)
•
India's trade with Pakistan, SAARC region up (
Indo-Asian News Service)
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