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India, Pakistan prime ministers to meet as relations dip
The prime ministers of India and Pakistan meet on Saturday in a worsening atmosphere of bomb attacks that India says has sent their four-year-old peace process to its lowest point.
- Agencies
- Published: 09:55 August 2, 2008
Colombo: The prime ministers of India and Pakistan meet on Saturday in a worsening atmosphere of bomb attacks that India says has sent their four-year-old peace process to its lowest point.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will send a strong message to his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gillani as the two try to salvage talks after a string of bombs hit Indian cities and its embassy in Kabul last month, together killing over 100 people.
India also blames Pakistan for a breach of a 2003 ceasefire on its border in disputed Kashmir, and accuses its spy agency of involvement in the Kabul attack that killed 58 people.
India's top foreign ministry official Shiv Shankar Menon said on Friday the talks were at their lowest point in four years.
"It's a very tense atmosphere," said a senior Indian diplomat. "We will want to know if the new civilian government (in Pakistan) is aware of what's going on," the official said.
The two prime ministers are meeting on the sidelines of a two-day South Asian summit beginning on Saturday.
The atmosphere of unease between two of the region's biggest members has affected the summit, where terrorism would dominate the talks, aside from trade and social issues.
Menon said the prime ministerial talks were aimed at reducing tensions."That is why we are talking to Pakistan, that's why we are carrying on these conversations," he said.
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