Any doubts over the health of the India-Pakistan peace process, on the sidelines of the SAARC ministerial meet, receded to the background today with the foreign ministers of both countries reaffirming their resolve and commitment to taking the dialogue ahead.After a 90-minute meeting, K Natwar Singh and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said they touched upon ‘‘all issues’’ affecting bilateral relations and agreed to meet again on September 5-6 in New Delhi for a more detailed discussion.This will be preceded by a meeting between the foreign secretaries on September 4. By then, discussions on the remaining six items of the composite dialogue would have concluded.While no specific issues were discussed today, it’s learnt that Pakistan has agreed to survey a few sites in Mumbai for its consulate there. Islamabad had been insisting on Jinnah House, which has been turned down by New Delhi.Pakistani officials indicated that their Deputy High Commissioner in India has been asked to initiate the process of shortlisting sites. A team from Islamabad may visit the sites once they have been selected. India has promised all assistance in this connection.There were also positive vibes on resolving the complications around the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus link. Pakistani officials indicated that the service could not be held hostage to issues such as allowing Jammu and Kashmir officials to be part of the technical team.They, however, said a broader framework may have to be prepared for the link, which would address issues such as the nature of travel documents to be used by passengers. While there were expectations that Singh and Kasuri would address this particular issue in detail at their breakfast meeting today, both ministers said they chose not to enter into specifics of any proposal.‘‘This meeting was on the margins of the SAARC, so we focused on SAARC issues and discussed all other issues that affect our bilateral relationship. I can assure you that the process started in January will be carried forward by us,’’ said Singh.Apparently, he has assured his counterpart that while he represented a coalition government, there was agreement across the board on furthering the peace process. He also conveyed to Kasuri that cross-border terror has to stop.In contrast to the Pakistan foreign office spokesperson’s tenor over the last few days, Kasuri today sounded positive on every front. He said his interactions with Singh were ‘‘frank, honest, candid, warm and friendly’’. After the meeting, Singh called on Pakistan Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain. All eyes are now set on Singh’s meeting with Musharraf on Friday.But before that, he will meet Pakistan Finance Minister and also the Prime Minister in-waiting Shaukat Aziz tomorrow.
