Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on Wednesday to resume the strained peace process with new talks to be scheduled within three months. The leaders of the nuclear-armed nations agreed that their foreign secretaries "will schedule meetings of the fifth round of the composite dialogue in the next three months," a joint statement said after the summit at the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting.The talks were Zardari's first with Singh since the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto won a presidential election this month to replace military leader Pervez Musharraf, who resigned under threat of impeachment. The two leaders also called for an ongoing ceasefire to be "stabilized."
Tensions have escalated along the common border since last July when New Delhi accused "elements" in Pakistan of involvement in a suicide car-bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that left at least 41 people dead.
Singh and Zardari also agreed that a special meeting of a joint anti-terrorist mechanism be held next month to address "mutual concerns," including the bombing of the embassy.
"Both leaders acknowledged that the peace process has been under strain in recent months," the statement said. "They agreed that violence, hostility and terrorism have no place in the vision they share of the bilateral relationship, and must be visibly and verifiably prevented," it said.
The neighbors launched peace efforts in 2004 after nearly going to war a fourth time over Islamist militant attacks in India linked to a nearly 20-year revolt against Indian rule in Kashmir that Pakistan supports, at least politically. While ties have warmed, the two sides have made no significant progress on their dispute over the Muslim-majority region they both claim.