Political will to keep the peace process on track: this was a key topic discussed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India and Pakistan’s PM Shaukat Aziz met in New Delhi.Our correspondent looks at the significance of the Pakistani leader’s visit to New Delhi, and where bilateral relations are heading. The Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan have held a rare meeting in which they stressed that a recent spat over disputed Kashmir must not affect current efforts to push on with peace dialogue. The Pakistani premier is visiting New Delhi in his capacity as outgoing chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. In his meeting with the Indian Petroleum Minister, the proposal for a US$4 billion Iran-India gas pipeline passing through Pakistan was discussed. Mani Shanker Iyer, Indian Petroleum Minister, said: “I said that we need to replicate such dependencies into several other sectors so that we can contextualise whatever cooperation we have in the hydrocarbon sector in the wider trade and economic relationship between our countries. And that this should spread in every direction.” Analysts say a growing number of bilateral meetings at the highest level is taking place, and this augurs well for the future. They also see public opinion in both countries as moving considerably towards reconciliation.Full Story
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