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| Sunday, 13 February 2005 |
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Peace process with Pakistan gathering speed, says India's FM NEW DELHI, Saturday (AFP) The peace process between India and Pakistan is gathering speed and the atmosphere between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals is improving, Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said Friday. Singh, who next week flies to Islamabad for a visit in which the peace process will top the agenda told reporters here that peace talks had speeded up since his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition assumed office last May. "We are meeting almost every month and the speed with which the two countries are going about it is very encouraging and also the atmosphere between the two countries has improved," he said. Singh said it was unfair to ask if he hoped to resolve all issues with Islamabad, including the dragging dispute over divided Kashmir which led India and Pakistan to fight two of their three wars since independence in 1947. "Diplomacy offers hope and not salvation," said Singh, who will visit Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Tuesday before flying south the same day for the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in more than 15 years. The peace process was launched in April 2003, shortly after the two rivals pulled back from the brink of war. India accuses Pakistan of stoking an Islamic insurgency in Indian-Kashmir since 1989, a charge Islamabad denies. |
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