India and Pakistan resume peace talks

The prime ministers of India and Pakistan agreed Thursday to resume peace talks between their top diplomats and work toward rebuilding trust shattered by the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that New Delhi blamed on Pakistani militants.

Photo: India and Pakistan resume peace talks

Officials said India's Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Yousuf Raza Gilani, agreed on the need to normalize relations, dogged by more than six decades of hostility since both gained independence from Britain. They deputed their foreign ministers to meet at a later date to discuss the resumption of a wide-ranging formal dialogue that began in 2004 but was suspended after the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, The Associated Press reports.

This was their first meeting after their dialogue in Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt on July 16, 2009 following which a major controversy had broken out in India on the contents of the joint statement.

Terrorism and the "slow progress" of Pakistan's probe into Mumbai attacks formed part of the agenda of the discussions which were held at the 'Bhutan House' here on the margins of the SAARC Summit. The two leaders first met accompanied by their delegations which was followed by a one-on-one meeting and then again by delegations, Indian Express informs.