Pakistan-India
Pakistan and India have postponed talks on Kashmir-related confidence-building measures, which were scheduled to be held on Thursday in Islamabad, officials said.

They said that the talks have been postponed on India request as an Indian official who was to lead the Indian side has gone to Afghanistan in the wake of the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Officials said the meeting of the Working Group on cross-Line of Control confidence-building measures had been postponed as Joint Secretary T C A Raghavan had gone to Kabul.

Raghavan was to lead the Indian side at the meeting. No fresh dates have been set for the meeting of the Working Group, the officials said.

Diplomatic sources said that the meeting is now likely to be held in Islamabad on July 18, before talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan in New Delhi during July 21-22 to launch the fifth round of the composite dialogue.

The two countries were expected to discuss new Kashmir-related CBMs during the meeting of the Working Group, including modalities for intra-Kashmir trade and the launch of a truck service between Srinagar in the Indian-administered Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Lists of items to be traded through the truck service were also likely to be discussed during the meeting. It would also have reviewed existing bus services and measures to expand and facilitate travel between the two parts of Kashmir, sources said.

The first meeting of the Working Group was held in New Delhi in May 2006.