India and Pakistan reopen negotiations

India and Pakistan on Thursday reopened high-level cross-border political talks for the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks almost two years ago.

SM Krishna, India’s foreign minister, and Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, his Pakistani counterpart, met in Islamabad to repair the strained relationship between the two nuclear armed nations set on a knife edge by the ferocious attack on India’s financial capital by Islamist militants.

Mr Krishna, the most senior Indian official to visit Pakistan for two years, has insisted that Pakistan needs to make greater progress towards prosecuting those responsible for the terror attacks that led to a three day stand-off and killed 166 people. He was meeting senior Pakistan officials on Thursday night after which the two sides were expected to issue a joint statement.

Indian commentators view progress over Mumbai as an essential prerequisite to any breakthrough on wider issues, most importantly any discussion about Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region which lies at the heart of hostilities between two countries that have fought three wars since the end of British rule in 1947.

Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, has made rebuilding trust with Pakistan, a central theme of his second term in office. But he is likely to meet strong opposition.

Mr Singh himself has expressed doubts about having a credible negotiating partner in Pakistan that can deliver a lasting peace between the south Asian countries.

“[Mr] Singh is far out in front of Indian politics,” said Maria Kuusisto, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, the political risk consultants. “His approach to Pakistan is deeply unpopular, even within his own party, among those who believe Islamabad has done little to tackle terrorism or even to bring the Mumbai perpetrators to justice.”

New Delhi wants to maintain its focus in the talks on efforts to combat terror, Pakistan is eager to broaden the dialogue. India has repeatedly called on Pakistan to crackdown on militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the Mumbai attacks and strikes on Indian targets in Afghanistan.

“Things are not going to move forward unless Pakistan gives something over Mumbai,” said, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, the foreign editor of the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Pakistan, meanwhile, wants to address Kashmir.

The high-level meeting comes just days after India sent the army onto the streets of Kashmir to quell violent anti-government protests that left 15 people dead. India’s overwhelming security presence in Kashmir is deeply resented by locals. One senior Indian minister explained the upsurge in violence as Kashmiris registering their frustration over New Delhi’s complacency towards their grievances in spite of two years of relative calm in the region.

While General Pervez Musharraf was in power in Pakistan, the two neighbours came close to agreeing a resolution to Kashmir. The blueprint was shelved after his fall from office in 2008.

His former ministers say they remain confident that the plans can be revived. “What gives me confidence is that the documents are still sitting in Delhi and Islamabad,” said one.

Since then, Pakistan has faced a widespread militant onslaught by Pakistani Taliban focused on its border with Afghanistan and Punjab, its most populous province. On Thursday, a suicide bomber struck in Mingora in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, killing six people. Mingora had been considered stable after an army campaign last year pushed Taliban fighters from the area.