Old rivals India, Pakistan resume peace process

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Top Indian and Pakistani foreign ministry officials met on Tuesday to review their four-year-old peace process that has stalled since domestic political turmoil erupted in Pakistan last year.

The nuclear-armed rivals' foreign secretaries' meeting will be followed on Wednesday by talks between Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

It is the first contact India has had with leaders of a new Pakistani civilian government and analysts in both Pakistan and India said Mukherjee will be sounding out Pakistan's new leaders.

Mukherjee said upon arrival that Pakistan's new democratic environment held great promise and he hoped progress the two countries had made would be consolidated, though that depended on an atmosphere free from militant violence.

"The present environment, I'm sure, will help us in addressing various issues related to peace, stability and economic development," he said.

The officials discussed a so-called composite dialogue which covers eight areas including the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, border disputes, terrorism and economic cooperation.

No major breakthroughs are expected on their main dispute over Kashmir, but Pakistani analysts hope the talks might set the stage for a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Pakistan said it was releasing nearly 100 Indians in its custody, most of them fishermen, as a goodwill gesture. Both country's fishermen frequently stray into each others' territory.

The neighbors launched peace efforts in 2004 after nearly going to war a fourth time over Islamist militant attacks in India linked to a nearly 20-year revolt against Indian rule in Kashmir which Pakistan supports, at least politically.

CLASHES

While ties have warmed, the two sides have made no significant progress on their dispute over the Muslim-majority region they both claim.

Clashes on their Kashmir border this month, including firing on Monday that India said killed one of its soldiers, have underscored just how tenuous the improvement in relations is.

But India did not accuse Pakistan of links to bombs last week in the city of Jaipur that killed 63 people, which Pakistani analysts said was a sign of maturity in their relations.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has been the architect of Indian policy since he seized power in a 1999 military coup, but February elections brought in a civilian government led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf made a range of proposals to end the Kashmir deadlock, offering to abandon demands for a plebiscite in Kashmir, as enshrined in U.N. resolutions, if India agreed to autonomy in its part of Kashmir, in effect giving up Pakistan's claim to the entire region.

But in March last year, Musharraf was engulfed in a political crisis when he tried to dismiss the country's top judge, distracting attention from India and giving it an excuse to stall, Pakistani analysts say.

Some Pakistani critics say Musharraf made too many concessions and the new government should pull back. At the same time, India is under no pressure to make concessions on Kashmir.

Before the lull in peace efforts, the two sides made progress on border disputes, one over the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas, the other in the south, over the Sir Creek estuary.

India is likely to want to know the stand on terrorism of a Pakistani government hoping a peace pact can end violence by al Qaeda-linked militants on its Afghan border.

Mukherjee said cooperation in the fight against terrorism would be a fitting tribute to Bhutto, who was killed in December.

(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Alex Richardson)