India, Pakistan agree terror panel in cordial talks
15 Nov 2006 14:14:51 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds Indian comments, new quotes, details) By Y.P. Rajesh NEW DELHI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - India and Pakistan said on Wednesday they had finalised plans to set up a panel to tackle terrorism, ending their first peace talks in nearly a year with hopes that it would help curb tensions. The South Asian rivals also agreed to a pact on reducing the risk of nuclear accidents, and said it would be signed soon, while Pakistan suggested what analysts said was an apparent interim solution to the dispute over the Siachen glacier. The anti-terrorism panel would consist of three members from each country and would be jointly headed by their top foreign ministry officials, a joint statement said. It would consider counter-terrorism measures through information sharing. "What it does is to give us an institution, an address where we can deal with the kinds of issues that we have been discussing in the past," Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told a news conference. "I think we have to give it a chance," said Menon, who led the talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Mohammad Khan. The announcements came at the end of two days of peace talks between top diplomats of the neighbours who resumed negotiations stalled by the deadly train bombings in Mumbai in July. Although the talks, as expected, did not produce a breakthrough in any of the thorny disputes that have festered for decades, the fact the two sides were able to have cordial talks and not point fingers, like so often in the past, was a step forward, analysts said. Menon said the talks had been successful as the two countries talked about issues that divide them and had a clearer understanding of the other side's worries and capabilities. India has accused Pakistan's military spy agency of plotting the Mumbai attacks, which killed 186 people, and an Islamist militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir of carrying them out with the help of disaffected Indian Muslims. NEW THOUGHTS ON SIACHEN? Pakistan's Khan said he had received information about some other attacks blamed on groups outlawed by Pakistan. "It would be a dangerous folly for either country to try to destabilise the other," he told a separate news conference. Pakistan had also left "certain thoughts" on how the neighbours could end their stand-off over the Siachen glacier -- the world's highest battlefield in northern Kashmir where more soldiers have died due to the weather than fighting. India has refused to withdraw its troops from the strategic heights until Pakistan accepts the positions held by the two sides in the icy, barren region. Khan said Pakistan was willing to accommodate this position but on the condition that it would not be a final endorsement of India's claim over the glacier. Menon said there were still differences over Siachen and more talks were needed. India and Pakistan began peace talks in 2004 after coming close to what would have been their fourth war. The talks have made slow progress, particularly over Kashmir, and have been undermined by militant attacks in the Himalayan region and across India, although officials say overall levels of violence in Kashmir have fallen. However, Kashmir saw an increase in guerrilla violence this week, coinciding withthe resumption of peace talks. Although Kashmir was one of the main subjects on the agenda, there was little progress on that dispute which has triggered two of three wars between India and Pakistan. (Additional reporting by Kamil Zaheer)
