New Delhi: Talks between India and Pakistan are finally back on track even though there are no key takeaways from the meeting between External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.After the meeting both countries agreed that fighting terror should be at the top of their agenda. Krishna said that the talks were on right track and India was satisfied with the progress while Khar added that Pakistan was in favour of friendly relations with India.
Krishna said that terrorism remained the biggest threat for the two countries while addressing the media after meeting Khar at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
"Terrorism poses continuing threat to peace and security. We have reiterated our commitment to fight this scourge in all its forms and agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice," said Krishna.
He added that Jammu and Kashmir was also discussed with the Pakistani delegation and efforts are on to find a "peaceful solution" to the issue.
In a joint statement, Krishna and Khar announced more measures on cross Line of Control travel and trade. The two ministers will meet in Islamabad in first half of 2012 to review progress in the dialogue.
India also raised issues regarding terror and "expressed displeasure" over the Hurriyat-Khar meeting.
Khar said that to have friendly relations between India and Pakistan the two sides need to invest more in resolving all outstanding issues peacefully.
"We need to make this dialgoue result oriented and a credible process. There is no alterantive to dialogue and constructive engagement. Pakistan and India are not only close neighbours but have a special responsibiltiy to promote stability for the prosperity of the region as a whole," said Khar.
"I am more confident today after having met you than i was yesterday. We are committed to this procedss. I bring the commitment of President (Asif Ali Zardari, (Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza) Gilani to our process of engagement and normalisation and increasing the bilateral interaction. This is a new era of bilateral cooperation and it is the desire of both countris to make this uninterrupted and uninterruptible process," she said.
The Pakistani Foreign Minister said that she was confident that the dialogue process could be taken forward and it was important for both the countries to talk more and deepen the understanding of each other's position
"We need to continue with this process and make this engagement a result oriented one. Listening carefully to each others and giving serious consideratioin to ideas and proposals that are on the table, I am confident of the future course of our relations that need to be normalised," she said.
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