18 February 2004	Wednesday	26 Zilhaj 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: Senior Pakistani and Indian officials on Tuesday reached a broad agreement on an agenda for renewed peace talks commencing on Wednesday with the aim of resolving all issues between the two countries , including the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.

"A broad understanding was reached on the modalities and time-frame for commencing the composite dialogue," a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement said after the second day of joint secretary-level talks between the two sides.

It said "recommendations" formulated by the two delegations would now go to foreign secretaries who are to meet on Wednesday in what the two sides describe as a "composite dialogue" that leaders of the two countries agreed last month to resume after a long deadlock.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank arrived on Tuesday from New Delhi for Wednesday's talks with his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar. Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry's Director-General for South Asia Jalil Abbas Jilani and Indian External Affairs Ministry Joint Secretary Arun K. Singh continued their talks for the second day on Tuesday, the foreign ministry statement said.

It said the two delegations "came with responses to various proposals" they had exchanged on Monday. "They will submit their recommendations to the foreign secretaries," it added without giving any details.

But diplomatic sources said the recommendations seemed relating to the agenda for the talks. An eight-point framework for "composite dialogue" between the two countries was agreed by their foreign secretaries as far back as June 1997.

That arrangement called for the foreign secretaries to deal with the dispute over Kashmir and the question of peace and security while other secretaries were to address the remaining six points - disputes over the Siachen glacier and Wullar Barrage in Kashmir and Sir Creek between Sindh province and India's Gujrat state, and the questions of bilateral trade, people-to-people contacts, and terrorism and drugs.

On Tuesday, Indian delegation leader Arun Singh paid a courtesy call on Mr Khokhar during which progress in Monday's first round of talks was reviewed, the statement said.

It quoted Mr Khokhar as saying he was looking forward to his dialogue with Mr Shashank on Wednesday. Agencies add: In a related development, PTV said the teams had also considered proposals to add two new items to the agenda, without giving details.

"Broadly, we'll carry forward what was agreed in 1998," an Indian official in Islamabad said. Earlier a Pakistan foreign ministry official told AFP that Pakistan had asked India to negotiate a joint agreement to lower the threat of war between the nuclear-armed rivals.

The official said Pakistan hoped that its suggestion for "strategic restraint regime" would become part of the agenda. "The proposal calls on the two sides to negotiate the threshold for minimum nuclear deterrence," said the official, asking to remain anonymous.

"There should not be an open-ended race for strategic or conventional arms. It also aims to limit the risk of a nuclear conflict and a missile race." Mr Shashank told APP in New Delhi that the delegations had prepared a comprehensive document.

"The outline has already been prepared and it is a comprehensive document which has been agreed to by both the sides at the highest level. What is required now is that we start the (peace) process sincerely," APP quoted him as saying.

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