Islamabad (AsiaNews/agencies) – Today for the first time since 2002 the Indian Premier, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, met officially.

The meeting, about which no content was released, lasted about an hour. It was conducted in a friendly manner and with positive tones. Today's meeting was preceded by an unofficial encounter, defined a "courtesy call", between the Indian prime minister and his Pakistani counterpart, Hon. Mir Zafarullha Khan Jamali.

The meeting between the two regional leaders comes as part of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) summit, which began yesterday in Islamabad. It was since 2002  that the two countries had not official meetings, since both countries – in constant friction since 1947 on account of the Kashmir region – were about to come to a declaration of war and the use of nuclear arms.  

Vajpayee arrived in Pakistan on Jan. 3, but news of the meeting between the two leaders was officially released on the evening of Jan. 4 by Masood Khan, India's Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Pakistan seems to want to start discussion on the age-old Kashmir issue; India seems more interested in economic collaboration prior to any political decision.

As testimony to the lessening of tensions between both countries there was also the announcement of some days ago that airline connections between the two countries would be re-opened. Such connections, together with those of railways and roads, were interrupted in 2002 following an attack on the Indian parliament by suspected Pakistani Islamic militants. The Pakistani airline, Pakistan International Airlines, began making flights again to India on Jan. 1 of this year; the state-owned Indian Airlines will begin flying to Pakistan as of this Jan. 9.  (SF)

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