NEW DELHI, June 23: India and Pakistan have agreed "in principle" to reopen their consulates in Karachi and Mumbai a decade after they were closed, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.
He said the two countries have also agreed to restore the strength of their respective high commissions to 110, which was cut to half after the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. The numbers were partially restored after the two countries initiated the peace process last year.
The latest agreement was reached during talks between Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue meeting in the Chinese city of Qingdao.
Referring to the agreement in Qingdao, the spokesman said: "This would be further discussed and operationalized when the foreign secretaries of the two countries meet (in Delhi) on June 27 and 28."
The Indian consulate in Karachi began to function in 1978, while the Pakistani consulate in Mumbai was opened in the early 1990s. Both were closed down in December 1994 following heightened tensions.
The reopening of the consulates would have to accompany the restoration of the travel links along the Rajasthan-Sindh border checkpoint to have any real meaning for travellers belonging to divided families, the sources said.
These issues could form part of the discussions on the bilateral dialogue pertaining to the revival of people-to-people contact. Both countries are due to hold six official-level meetings on a range of issues in between the foreign secretaries' talks next week and the foreign ministers' bilateral dialogue in August.
Easier travel for Karachi residents would help the new Indian government in the Uttar Pradesh elections expected next year. On his part, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said in January that the confidence-building measures between Pakistan and India could result in the reopening of consulates in Karachi and Mumbai.
He had said the measures could also result in the opening of a road link between Khokhrapar in Sindh province and Rajasthan. Earlier in an interview, carried by leading Indian daily "The Hindu," External Affairs Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh said both sides in principle agreed to reopen their consulates in Karachi and Mumbai.
The Agreement in principle to reopen the consulates has been termed here as an important stride, which will give further boost to people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
The implementation of the decision will immensely benefit particularly the divided families of the two countries both in terms of money and time, said the daily. Pakistan had been stressing that the two countries should enhance the strength of respective High Commissions to 110, which existed before December 2001 in view of resumption of dialogue and enhanced people to people contacts.