Click to play videoIslamabad: Two days of Foreign Secretary level talks between India and Pakistan ended on Wednesday in Islamabad. The two sides will meet again for the fourth round somewhere between April and July.
India offered to conduct DNA tests of relatives of the unidentified Pakistani victims of the Samjhauta blasts while foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon handed over a list of passport numbers to his Pakistani counterpart.
"There are 19 unidentified persons who died in the tragedy. Both India and Pakistan will jointly try and identify them," said Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.
Pakistan has again asked India to share findings of the Samjhauta probe. However officials on both the sides are tight-lipped about the information exchanged so far on the terrorism front.
"Kashmir is an unsettled issue of dispute between the two countries. That's a separate matter and I don’t want to mix it with the security issue," said Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan.
Pakistan agreed to a number of proposals which included starting Kargil-Skardu bus service, giving group tourist visas, starting a common postal service, and a special helicopter service between Srinagar and Muzzafarabad.
While India and Pak talk peace, there's a slight sense of urgency in Islamabad. President Musharraf has a plateful of worries. So how will the India Pakistan peace process be impacted by continued uncertainty?
“India should be worried about cutting the red tape. It should do business with Musharraf now. He is a man who can get things done without questions being asked. You get a weaker leader in his place and progress will be even slower than what we see today,” said journalist Marianna Babar.
A sobering thought for all those who favour seek improved Indo Pak ties at the earliest.
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