India, Pakistan Agree To Allow Diplmatic Access To Prisoners

Islamabad, Pakistan (AHN) - India and Pakistan began their fourth round of peace talks since a new government took power in Islamabad. Representatives made progress signing a pact on Wednesday granting two-way diplomatic access to foreign national prisoners. The breakthrough comes a day after Pakistan announced it will release almost 100 Indian prisoners as a goodwill gesture.

The talk, however, failed to yield any fruitful conclusion over the Kashmir issue. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has proposed some new measures to resolve the Kashmir issue and reduced infiltration.

However, in recent weeks the Indian army has alleged that Pakistan has fired across the Line of Control. They have also alleged Pakistani had a role in the recent Jaipur tourist blasts. Pakistan has denied the allegations.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is in Pakistan for the talks, said there was a lot of willingness between the countries to normalize relations. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi added that continuing the dialog that was initiated in 2004 would benefit both countries.

Analysts have pointed out that the real mission of the meeting was to gauge the attitude of the new Pakistani government towards India.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also due to visit Islamabad some time this year.