NEW DELHI: The Indian and Pakistani Foreign Secretaries sat together in a lengthy session here today [May 17] trying to work out mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding problems between their two countries. Mr Kewal Singh and Mr Agha Shahi later said they would continue their negotiations, probably after getting fresh directives from their respective Governments. Their current negotiations, aimed at normalising Indo-Pakistan ties under the Simla agreement, are second in eight months. Leaders of the two delegations said the scope of the talks had been widened to include broader questions concerning the subcontinent. Kashmir, however, was not among the questions discussed. Agha Shahi said “in these negotiations what is more important is that public opinion in both the countries should not be upset”. — News agencies

[Meanwhile as reported by news agencies from Washington,] the United States Air Force dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on the Cambodian island of Koh Tang to clear a helicopter landing place. … The 15,000-pound … bomb was dropped inland on the island yesterday [May 16] to prepare a site for Marine reinforcements. … The … bomb is designed to clear trees and vegetation.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2025