India, Pakistan in landmark talks
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Kashmiris carry the bodies of five men they say were used as human shields by Indian forces during a gunfight.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The first formal peace talks between India and Pakistan in more than two years have opened in Islamabad, with the disputed region of Kashmir high on the agenda.
The meeting between foreign ministry officials -- dubbed "talks about talks" -- is expected to formulate an agenda for further discussions over the coming months.
The nuclear rivals have already fought two of their three wars over Kashmir and human rights organizations estimate more than 60,000 people have been killed in violence there since a militant insurgency began there 15 years ago.
"From the opening exchanges there may emerge indications of the degree of flexibility we can expect to see from both sides," one Western diplomat told Reuters.
"It will also be interesting to see if both sides are committed to a long-term process."
Middle-ranking bureaucrats from the two countries' foreign ministries meet on Monday and Tuesday to pave the way for a meeting on Wednesday between the two foreign secretaries, the highest-ranking bureaucrats in the rival ministries.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee agreed to restart the peace process during a groundbreaking meeting in January.
Musharraf pledged that he would not allow Pakistan to be used as a base for terrorist activity at the talks, which marked a sea change in decades of bitter rivalry between the foes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, history has been made," Musharraf said last month when announcing a breakthrough in relations with its long-time adversary.
'Recurrent crises'
For more than half a century, since independence from Britain, the South Asian neighbors have been fighting over Kashmir, the mountainous territory with a Muslim majority claimed by both countries.
There have been two full-scale wars, one in 1947 and one in 1965, followed by decades of endless exchanges of fire across the Line Of Control which divides Kashmir into Indian and Pakistani sections. China also controls a portion of the region.
In recent years, the territory has been wracked by a bloody insurgency and there were fears the two countries were on the brink of full-scale war during a tense standoff and military build up sparked by a militant attack on Parliament in New Delhi in December 2001.
But in late 2003, tensions began to ease and a two-month-old ceasefire between their two armies along the Line of Control has already helped to improve the atmosphere.
"In the past, the Indians have stonewalled, and Pakistan has resorted to desperate measures to create a situation where India is forced back to the negotiating table," said former Pakistani foreign secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan.
"This has led to recurrent crises. One hopes it is different this time."
