Indo-Pak resume dialogue after 6-month pause

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his counterpart Salman Bashir held delegation level discussions to review the fourth round of composite dialogue. It was preceded by an hour-long informal talks between the two top officials.

The India side is understood to have voiced concern over cross-border terrorism, the renewed infiltration bids in J-K and firing incidents at Line of Control.

Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and various confidence building measures also figured in the discussions.
Various CBMs were also raised with India pressing for launch of more cross-LoC bus services and early operationalisation of the truck service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.

The Foreign Secretaries of the two countries discussed the agenda for tomorrow's talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi here which will mark the first high level contact with the new democratic government in Islamabad.

The fourth round of the dialogue which began in 2004 has been fairly successfully and the Indian side is keen to take it forward with the new government, picking up from where it left during President Pervez Musharraf's regime.

India has said it is ready to address all issues with Pakistan, including Jammu and Kashmir, through talks but noted that atmosphere of peace is essential for the success of the dialogue process.