India and Pakistan's foreign ministers insisted relations were back on track Wednesday after peace talks that highlighted a 'new era' of cooperation over the ruptures of the past.
Although their meeting in New Delhi produced little in the way of substantive agreements, the tone was one of forward-looking optimism that acknowledged a joint responsibility to bring stability to South Asia.
It was the first meeting of the arch-rivals' foreign ministers for a year, and followed the formal resumption in February of the comprehensive peace dialogue suspended by India after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
After the talks, the Indian foreign minister, SM Krishna, said ties were back 'on the right track,' while his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar spoke of a 'mindset change' that had ushered in a 'new era of cooperation'.
'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 major hurdle in any future comprehensive peace deal.
Khar said the peace dialogue was now an 'uninterruptable' process that both countries were committed to taking forward.
'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.
A joint statement outlined the commitment of both sides to fight militancy, boost trade and keep the peace process going.
Khar, Pakistan's first female foreign minister, was appointed last week and, at just 34 years of age, some had questioned whether she was experienced enough to handle one of the world's most fraught cross-border relationships.
At 79, Krishna is 45 years her senior.
The pre-talks atmosphere had been soured by Khar's decision to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders immediately after her arrival in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Source : New Age
No comments:
Post a Comment