India, Pak to resume talks

At a separate press conference, Sharif said the dialogue would resume but added in the same breath that the deadlock could not be broken until the Kashmir issue was first resolved, quickly through “third party negotiation.”

Vajpayee gave no details of his discussions with his Pakistani counterpart: “I was looking forward to meeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and we have had a good meeting. Our discussions were wide-ranging and covered many issues of mutual interest. We recognised the importance of building mutual trust andconfidence and of establishing stable and friendly ties.”

The two prime ministers met hours after the plenary session of the 10th SAARC summit where Sharif made a case for a regional initiative on the India-Pakistan dispute. However, Vajpayee said this was not discussed by the two prime ministers. The Kashmir issue was discussed, Vajpayee confirmed but declined to disclose the details.

Vajpayee and Sharif began their meeting at 4.40 pm (IST) and although the two started out with a delegation of nine members each, it was quickly decided by both sides that the entourages were too large for a free discussion.

The delegations then withdrew leaving the two leaders to converse alone for the bulk of the meeting. They were joined, in the concluding stages, by the foreign secretaries of the two countries, P Raghunath and Shamshad Ahmed, who were directed by their leaders to work out a process for resuming the dialogue.

In his statement after the meeting, Sharif said the two sides had agreed to continue thedialogue “at the next available opportunity.”