Foreign ministers of India and Pakistan have concluded talks in Islamabad but said there was no significant progress in improving relations between the two countries.
Speaking Thursday at a news conference after the talks, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, pledged to hold more meetings in the future.
The two officials described the discussions as "frank, candid and honest," but said they were unable to report any significant progress in rebuilding the trust shattered by the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The three-day siege dominated the talks, but the foreign ministers also discussed terrorism, the disputed region of Kashmir, and Afghanistan. India's Krishna extended an invitation to Qureshi to visit India to continue their discussions.
The United States welcomed the meeting and said it is expressly the kind of dialogue that should help to address and resolve issues of interest between the countries and have consequences in the whole region.
Thursday's talks were somewhat overshadowed by comments a day earlier from India's Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, who accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of playing a much more significant role in planning the 2008 attacks that killed 166 people.
Pakistan's foreign minister condemned the comments, saying both he and Krishna felt they were uncalled for.
Krishna also met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who issued a statement afterward urging both governments to work more closely to "eliminate" militancy and terrorism.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP
