The Middle East has taught us not to get too excited over a “road map,” but news from South Asia looks encouraging:
Pakistan and India today laid out a timetable for peace talks on a wide range of topics, including the key issues of Kashmir, nuclear safeguards and terrorism.
A series of mid-level meetings will begin directly after the Indian elections in April, culminating in a summit in August between the two nations’ foreign ministers.
“We do have a basic road map for a Pakistan-India peace process to which we have both agreed,” the senior official in Pakistan’s foreign ministry, Riaz Khokhar, told reporters at the conclusion of the talks.
Even before the Indian elections, technical-level talks will be held on transport links and other issues, Mr Khokhar said after a face-to-face meeting with his Indian counterpart, Shashank.
“We feel that the atmosphere is much better,” he said. “There is a realisation on both sides that war is not an option.”
Hopefully a terrorist group won’t pop up and derail things.
Hope springs eternal….
I still hope to win the progressive jackpot.
I suppose neither of us should hold our breath in “hope”
–jeff-perado