"New era" for Pakistan, India relations, say ministers

Reuters  - Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers hailed a "new era" in ties between the nuclear-armed rivals on Wednesday and agreed to fight terrorism and boost trade and travel, a step forward in reducing tension in the world's most dangerous region.

Peace talks between Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, were surprisingly positive, but analysts cautioned in raising hopes until there was progress on resolving the status of disputed Kashmir and eliminating cross-border militancy.

"This is indeed a new era of bilateral cooperation between the two countries," Khar, Pakistan's first female and youngest-ever foreign minister, told the media after two-and-a-half hours of talks in New Delhi, standing next to Krishna.

Peace across the heavily militarised frontier between India and Pakistan is crucial for the United States to draw-down troops and stabilise Afghanistan without sparking off a proxy war between New Delhi and Islamabad in that country.

Expectations of a breakthrough in talks any time soon remain modest given the fact that neither country has yet to take significant steps to normalise relations, such as withdrawing large numbers of troops from the border.

But the fact the rivals keep talking, and agreeing to small steps such as efforts to improve the lives of those living in the divided Kashmir region, indicate that neither side wants to slide back towards conflict.

"The fact that there is no train wreck is a positive augury," said Uday Bhaskar, director of strategic think-tank National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi.

Pakistani foreign affairs expert Hasan Askari Rizvi said the two sides had skirted confrontation over the most controversial issues dogging ties for years, such as terrorism and Kashmir, and had been able to conclude the talks on a positive note.

"They haven't entered the minefield. They stayed out and they made a good statement," Rizvi said.

The countries have fought three full-scale wars since winning independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, the Himalayan region both claim in full but rule in part.

India and Pakistan in February resumed a formal peace process broken off after the 2008 attack on India's financial capital of Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants, which killed 166 people.

FIGHTING "TERRORISM"

Importantly, they agreed to work more closely to fight militancy, which has plagued both countries, and to bring to justice perpetrators of militant attacks.

It was unclear what these steps were and analysts cautioned against any quick result given the deep mistrust between each country's intelligence services as well as armed forces.

India has long criticised Pakistan for failing to hand over suspected militants believed to be behind the Mumbai attack and has accused Pakistani intelligence agents of having a hand in planning them.

"We have agreed that terrorism poses a continued threat to peace and security and reiterate the firm and undiluted commitment of our two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all forms," Krishna said.

"We have also agreed the need to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice."

The United States has also stepped up efforts to bridge the divide between the neighbours, coming at a time when ties between Washington and Islamabad have soured over the U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited New Delhi last week and urged them to work on ties as well as stabilising the volatile region.

As in previous peace efforts, progress has been slow and vulnerable to any attempts by Pakistan-based militants, fighting Indian security forces in its part of Kashmir, to try to trigger a war by launching another Mumbai-style attack.

But both sides kept their cool in the aftermath of a triple bomb attack in Mumbai this month that killed 24 people and injured more than 130. Police have yet to identify the suspects but security analysts suspect the home-grown Indian Mujahideen.





Krishna said the two countries had agreed to ease travel restrictions, boost bus services frequency and double the number of days goods could be traded across a United Nations-drawn Line of Control dividing Kashmir between them.



"I can confidently say our relations are on the right track," he said.