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| 17 February 2004 | Tuesday | 25 Zilhaj 1424 |
Optimism as talks begin in Islamabad: Both sides satisfied - FO
ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Senior government officials of Pakistan and India met here on Monday as a first step towards Pakistan-India dialogue agreed on Jan 6 at the leadership level
, and "discussed modalities and time-frame for the resumption of composite dialogue".
After the opening day session, it was officially stated by Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan that "both sides expressed satisfaction at the progress made on the first day".
The Indian side was led by Mr Arun K. Singh, joint secretary of the Indian external affairs ministry while director-general (South Asia), Mr Jalil Abbas Jilani, headed the Pakistan side.
The officials will meet again on Tuesday while on the third and last day of the talks, the two sides will meet at the foreign secretaries level to review the first two days' proceedings. The secretaries may speak to the media at the conclusion of the parleys.
After making the brief official statement, the FO spokesman expressed optimism about the progress of the peace process which, he maintained, was the outcome of the 'statesmanship' and 'political will' of President General Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
He was asked what new elements had encouraged Islamabad and New Delhi to make a fresh bid for peace when efforts during the past 56 years at normalization of relations had not succeeded.
He replied: "There was a realization in both the countries that war was no option to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue or to have a secure future for South Asia".
The current Pakistan-India peace initiative enjoyed the backing and support of the international community from Europe to Asia Pacific, he said. Mr Khan said Kashmir would be part of the discussions being held in Islamabad.
He hoped that the peace process would lead to structured and sustained peace dialogue for the well-being of the people in the region.
Agencies add: The first day's session lasted for nearly two hours.
"The process of composite dialogue has commenced today after an interruption of two-and-a-half years," the FO spokesman said. "All subjects will be discussed and concerns will be addressed when you sit across the table," he said, declining to give details.
In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said work had already been done in the past years on dialogue and it should not be a difficult task to reach a conclusion during the present round.
"I am quite optimistic about the outcome of this round of talks. These are preliminary discussions on issues relating to the agenda, the level of talks and the time-frame," he told reporters after the India-EU Troika Ministerial meeting.
Saying New Delhi was 'grateful' to the EU for the offer to play a role in resolving India-Pakistan issues, he added that it had been made clear that "as far as the role of EU or any third party is concerned, these are best resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan".
If some issues were left over during the discussions, foreign secretaries Shashank and Riaz Khokhar would meet on Feb 18 to resolve them, Mr Sinha said.
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