04 June 2004	Friday	15 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, June 3: Pakistan and India agreed on Thursday to avoid publicising differences ahead of peace talks later this month, the foreign ministry said.

Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh telephoned his counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri and suggested they stay in close touch for the sake of recent peace moves between the South Asian neighbours.

"From now onwards, the future of India-Pakistan relations would not lie in the past," the Indian foreign ministry quoted Mr Singh as telling Mr Kasuri. The telephone call appeared to be aimed at putting to rest a public row that has erupted in recent days between the two ministers on how to proceed on the tentative peace process, said Reuters.

Our Correspondent adds from New Delhi: In a rare gesture that may have set the tone for the forthcoming talks with Pakistan, Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh invited Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan for an unusually long chat on Thursday, during which he casually picked up the phone to also say hello to Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri.

Pakistani officials said Mr Singh's gesture had charmed Mr Khan, who was visiting the foreign ministry for other meetings when the minister invited him. "The future of India-Pakistan talks will henceforth remain free from the shadows of the past," Mr Singh told Mr Khan.

He expressed the same sentiment to Mr Kasuri, urging him to convey his personal respects to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali. "Some people think I am a hawk, whatever that means. I am anything but that," Mr Singh told a beaming Mr Khan.

"Improving relations with Pakistan and carrying out successful talks with you will be my top priority." Pakistan has described as innovative Mr Singh's proposal to study a trilateral nuclear doctrine involving Pakistan, India and China.

The idea has been dismissed as unworkable by the pro-American Indian opposition leaders, including former foreign minister Jaswant Singh. "It was a rare meeting, a surprise meeting, and very much more than a friendly meeting," said Deputy High Commissioner Munawwar Saeed Bhatti, who accompanied Mr Khan to see Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank before they were surprised by Mr Singh's gesture.

Mr Bhatti said he could not recall the last time an Indian foreign minister had shown similar courtesy to a Pakistani envoy. Mr Khan, who returned from a private visit to Canada late on Wednesday night, had missed a meeting with Mr Singh when the Indian minister recently received Saarc and Asean envoys for an exchange of views.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said Mr Singh had agreed to meet Mr Khan as a 'special gesture' and had 'a very friendly discussion with him lasting more than an hour'.

"During the course of the call, he (Mr Singh) telephoned Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. The telephone conversation touched upon all issues of bilateral interests and was conducted in a spirit of friendship, cordiality and bonhomie," the spokesman said.

Mr Kasuri conveyed his regards to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Mr Singh 'sent his regards to President Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali, 'the spokesman said.

Informed sources said Thursday's meeting between the Pakistani envoy and the Indian minister could be indicative of the way the two foreign ministers would approach each other when they meet for the first time during an Asian regional conclave in China later this month.

It would also find an echo in the experts-level talks on nuclear CBMs and later the foreign secretary-level meeting which the world is watching with interest, for they will deal with the tricky issue of Kashmir.

Mr Singh said this week that India had facilitated Pakistan's recent return to the Commonwealth and cleared its path to enter the Asean Regional Forum. Mr Singh clarified to Mr Khan that his views on the Shimla Agreement being the bedrock of India-Pakistan ties were quoted out of context.

How could anyone ignore the fact that the Lahore Declaration and January 6 press statement between the two countries were intrinsic to the way ahead because they both represented the post-nuclear reality of the two?, Mr Singh is believed to have told Mr Khan.