India, Pakistan begin peace talks to settle old disputes

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan began historic meetings Monday aimed at preparing for a sustained peace dialogue on Kashmir and other disputes that have divided the neighbors for decades.

Pakistan is eager to show quick progress during the three days of talks, which also are likely to cover confidence-building measures in the nuclear field to avoid an accident -- especially considering admissions of leaks of nuclear technology by the father of Pakistan's nuclear program.

India and Pakistan last held formal peace talks in July 2001 in Agra, India.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to launch the new dialogue when they met on the sidelines of a South Asian summit in January.

Jalil Abbas Jilani, a director-general in Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, and Arun Kumar Singh, a joint secretary in India's External Affairs Ministry, shook hands and smiled before the start of the meeting. The sides met for nearly two hours before breaking for lunch.

Singh is leading a four-member Indian team at the talks, the first real test of the two sides' willingness to show flexibility on long-entrenched positions, such as the disputed Kashmir region -- the cause of two of the countries' three wars since their 1947 independence.

'Constructive manner'

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said the meeting took place in a "cordial atmosphere and constructive manner."

"Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made on the first day," he said.

The two sides suggested dates for future talks addressing eight issues, including Kashmir, confidence-building measures in the nuclear field, terrorism and drugs, economic cooperation, and a river dispute, diplomats said. The timetable was expected to be decided in the next two days.

A "line of control" divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. More than 65,000 people have been killed in an insurgency that has raged in India-controlled portions of the territory since 1989.

In the latest violence, suspected separatist rebels shot and killed a local politician Monday as he stood on a roadside in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, police said.

Two police officers nearby raced to the scene and opened fire on the assailants. One officer was killed and the other wounded as the attackers retaliated and then escaped.

Meanwhile, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, more than 500 people from a political group seeking Kashmir's independence blocked a main street for nearly two hours Monday to protest the Pakistan-India talks.

"These negotiations are being held to end the Kashmiris' struggle," said Ghulam Nabi War, a Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front leader. "The two countries are not interested in people of Kashmir. They don't respect their wishes."

After coming close to fighting a fourth war in 2002, India and Pakistan have moved to restore transport links and diplomatic ties. Soldiers in November halted cross-border firing in Kashmir.

India is also set to embark on its first cricket tour of Pakistan since 1989 -- a breakthrough for the two nations.

With national elections due in India in April, no major decisions are expected by Vajpayee's government in this round of talks. However, the prime minister is expected to stay in power and pursue the peace process.

"We are going to start the process of negotiations ... that will mean looking into modalities for the dialogue process and see what meetings should be organized in the next few months to keep up the dialogue on a sustained basis," Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank, who uses only one name, told Press Trust of India in New Delhi.

The "composite dialogue" between the countries was first agreed to in 1997 and reaffirmed by Vajpayee and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf at a January meeting in Islamabad on the fringes of a regional summit.

The two leaders had previously met for a failed peace summit in July 2001 in Agra, India.

Singh, who arrived Sunday in Pakistan, and his Pakistani counterpart were to map out a plan for future dialogue.

The talks are to be wrapped up by Shashank at a meeting Wednesday with Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar. The officials are the most senior in their ministries below the foreign ministers.