Indo-Pak FS Level Talks Begin in Islamabad

In their efforts to bridge trust deficit and work out measures to counter terrorism to bring on track the stalled peace process, foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met today in Islamabad, said media reports.

First senior Indian official to visit Islamabad since Mumbai attacks, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao met her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir for talks at the Foreign Office, reports said.

The talks began with a one-on-one meeting between Rao and Bashir to be followed by delegation-level parleys, said reports.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani have asked Rao and Bashir to find ways to bridge the trust deficit and prepare the ground for a meeting of the Foreign Ministers on July 15.

Rao had yesterday said that her visit was a kind of exploration for reducing trust deficit that exists between the two countries.

Following the talks with Bashir, Rao will call on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at 2 pm Pakistani time.

No joint media interaction by the two Foreign Secretaries has been scheduled so far and it is expected that both sides will arrange separate news briefings in the afternoon.

Officials from both sides acknowledged that they had no expectations of a major breakthrough during today’s talks.

However, both sides are preparing for the long haul so that the Foreign Secretary-level talks and other upcoming meetings can generate incremental progress towards the restoration of the stalled peace process, the officials said.

Ahead of the talks, Foreign Secretary Bashir told the Pakistani media that the meeting would essentially prepare the ground for the meeting of the Foreign Ministers on July 15.

(Based on internet reports)