Foreign ministers stressed the importance of peace in their first meeting

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday India and Pakistan’s foreign ministers begin their first talk after the arrival of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khar to India with a wish to start peace process.

When talked about their first meeting, Foreign minister SM Krishna said ties were back “on the right track,” while his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar spoke of a “new era” of cooperation.

India suspended contacts with Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attacks which it blamed on militants. Pakistan-based

There was little in the way of substantive agreements to back up the general mood of optimism, with a joint statement envisaging a general bilateral effort to combat terrorism, increase trade and keep the peace dialogue going.

The peace process has struggled to gain any real traction since its formal resumption earlier this year in an atmosphere of mutual recrimination and mistrust.

“We have some distance to travel, but with an open mind and a constructive approach … I am sure we can reach our desired destination of having a friendly and cooperative relationship,” Krishna said.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them triggered by their territorial dispute over Kashmir, which remains a core issue and major hurdle in any future comprehensive peace deal.

In her remarks to the reporters, Khar said there had been “a mindset change” that had turned the resumed peace dialogue into an “uninterrupted and uninterruptable” process.

“A new generation of Indians and Pakistanis will see a relationship that will hopefully be much different from the one that has been experienced in the last two decades,” she said.

Both India-Pakistan foreign ministers stressed the importance of the India-Pakistan relationship to ensuring peace in the wider South Asia region.