COLOMBO, August 3 (AFP): Tensions between India and Pakistan overshadowed a South Asian summit ending in Sri Lanka Sunday, although the two nuclear-armed rivals said they would stick to their embattled peace process.
In the highest level talks between the two countries in over a year, Pakistan's Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani agreed to look into allegations his spy service was behind last month's suicide bombing of India's embassy in Kabul.
Sri Lankan diplomats hosting the summit said Gilani and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could have more informal talks before the end of the two-day summit later Sunday.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, who is attending the summit as an observer, said he believed Gilani was determined to "conquer the problems of extremism and terrorism."
On Saturday the two premiers agreed that the bombing of India's embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, plus a string of clashes along the Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region of Kashmir, had "cast a pall" on the four-year-old peace drive, Indian foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said.
Singh, who met Gilani at a luxury hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean, "was relatively frank in expressing his views," said Menon.
But "both prime ministers said we need to overcome these (problems) and move forward," Menon told reporters, adding Gilani had "stressed that across the board in Pakistan, all political parties want improved relations."
India, Pakistan agree to give peace a chance
FE Team | Published: August 04, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Share if you like