India and Pakistan Launch Peace Talks
Pakistani Home Secretary Arrives in India (voanews.com)
India and Pakistan have engaged on Monday in the first round of formal peace talks since 2008, when a bomb went off in the financial Indian hub of Mumbai, causing many people to die, in what was deemed the most serious terrorist attack on Indian soil.
The meeting was held in New Delhi and was at home secretary level, with issues like counter-terrorism, the relaxation of visa rules, and the 2008 terror attacks on the agenda.
Relation between India and Pakistan (traveljournals.net)
According to those involved in the peace process, the meeting itself exceeds by far the agenda, being seen as a decision to resume dialogue after India rejected all dialogue with Pakistan, whom it blamed for the terrorist attack in Mumbai.
According to analysts, both countries are now interesting in reducing the tension between the two states and resuming the slow but steady process of building a mutual relationship.
Though no spectacular step forward is expected of this meeting that will be concluded on Tuesday, it is thought that it would set the stage for further such meetings.
The relation between the two neighboring countries is also fostered by a sports event that involves both India and Pakistan: the cricket World Cup semi-finals that will be played on Wednesday in India.
The Pakistani Prime Minister has already accepted the invitation made by the Indian PM to attend the match. The “cricket diplomacy” is considered a valuable means to boost the relations between the two countries that have a lot of bad blood between them.
