India and Pakistan bid to end decades of enmity
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan were hoping to ease visa restrictions and increase cross-border visits as senior officials met today in an effort to reduce decades of enmity between the two neighbours.
“The sky is the limit,” said Jaleel Abbas, Pakistan’s culture secretary as he entered the talks in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
“Expectations are very high in terms of extending public contacts between the two countries,” Abbas said.
Easing of visa restrictions is a main agenda topic for the two-day meeting, both sides said.
An Indian foreign ministry official said discussions would include more cultural exchanges, relaxation of Pakistan’s ban on the showing of Indian films, and methods to free fishermen detained for years by both sides after they strayed into each other’s waters.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. Relations have improved since November, when they agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control that divides the Himalayan region of Jammu-Kashmir between them.
