Indian Joint Secretary Venkatesh Verma and Pakistani Foreign Office General Disarmament Division head Yusuf Shami would lead working-level discussions of the potential confidence-building measures. Measures agreed to by the sides would be made public at July 26-27 talks in New Delhi between Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and Hina Rabbani Khar, a Pakistani official expected to take over as foreign minister.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir are expected at a July 25 meeting in New Delhi to settle on topics to be discussed by the foreign ministers over the following two days. Extremism, the disputed Kashmir region and all other matters are open for potential discussion at the ministerial level, according to officials.
Islamabad and New Delhi earlier this year agreed to relaunch the peace process that is intended to address such divisive issues as Kashmir, natural resource rights and each nation's nuclear weapons programs in a composite framework. India walked away from the peace talks following the 2008 attack on Mumbai that killed 166 people and was orchestrated by Pakistani-based extremists (Economic Times, July 8).
Location: Islamabad
