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Islamabad: Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers are to meet here tomorrow after talks today between the foreign secretaries of the two countries to restart the stalled bilateral peace dialogue.
The deliberations will be the first between Pakistan's new government formed after the February general elections and the Indian government within the framework of the so-called composite dialogue initiated four years ago.
Pakistani foreign secretary Salman Bashir and his Indian counterpart Shivshankar Menon will meet today to review the progress made in four rounds of talks since early 2004 when the dialogue was launched.
Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who along with foreign secretary Menon is due to arrive in Islamabad late today, will hold talks with Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.
"We are committed to the peace process and seek peaceful resolution of all issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said ahead of the meetings.
Vow
Pakistan's elected government led by the Pakistan People's Party has vowed to develop good neighbourly relations with India and engage in constructive talks on finding a solution to the Kashmir row.
During the forthcoming meetings the two sides would finalise dates for a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan and set out a schedule for fifth round of talks under the composite dialogue. Singh reportedly said Saturday one of the objectives behind recent bombings in the Indian city of Jaipur was to prevent normalisation of relations with Pakistan.
The local media reported that US President George W. Bush during a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm Al Shaikh in Egypt on Sunday expressed satisfaction at the progress in peace dialogue.
Islamabad (IANS) Even as India gets ready to raise its concerns about cross-border terrorism with Pakistan today, Aftab Sherpao, a key ally of President Pervez Musharraf, has rejected the presence of terrorist camps in his country that allegedly target India.
"There are no such camps existing in Pakistan," Sherpao said in an interview here when asked about the Indian accusation about terrorist camps in Pakistan that were allegedly used to launch terror attacks against India.
Counter-productive
"Such rhetoric should not be allowed to vitiate the atmosphere. Such charges are counter-productive and do not help in the normalisation of relations between the two countries," said Sherpao, a former home minister who acted as pointsman for Musharraf in the "war on terror".
"We have moved forward in many areas. Let's not get caught in this sterile talk," Sherpao stressed ahead of the resumption of the composite dialogue process between the foreign secretaries of the two countries Tuesday.
"Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and has suffered more terror attacks and suicide bombings than probably any other country in the region," said Sherpao, a prominent figure during the stand-off around Islamabad's Red Mosque last year. Subsequently, he became a high-profile target for militants.
India has repeatedly conveyed to Pakistan information it has about the presence of terror camps run allegedly by the ISI to launch attacks in the Indian territory - a charge denied by Islamabad.
Pakistan gave an undertaking to India in 2004 not to allow its territory to be used for anti-India terror - an assurance that led to the resumption of the suspended peace process between the two countries.
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