Peace process under stress, says India: Islamabad asks Delhi to stop blame-game

Nevertheless, Menon said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had telephoned his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday and the two had agreed to meet in Colombo on the sidelines of a South Asian regional summit starting August 2.

According to Doordarshan, Menon said, “We discussed Jammu and Kashmir. The Directors-General and the Joint Secretaries of the two countries met in Islamabad on July 18 and decided on several cross-LoC measures to check violations of the ceasefire.”

On the CBMs, he said the two sides decided to double the frequencies of the two bus services between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot and also agreed on measures to enhance cross-LoC trade.

Asked whether Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would also meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Colombo, Menon said no such meeting has been scheduled so far.

Regarding the alleged violation of ceasefire on LoC on three occasions, Menon said both sides agreed that the ceasefire was of “tremendous value” and, hence, the existing mechanism should be used to further strengthen it.

The Indian side also drew the attention of Pakistan government to recent statements made by some Pakistani leaders regarding relations between the two nations.

He said Indo-Pak relationship had undergone changes, especially in the nature of relationship, after the return of democracy in Pakistan.