India, Pak. announce new CBMs to normalise bilateral ties

New York : Injecting a new momentum in the peace process which has come under strain, India and Pakistan today announced a series of confidence building measures, including commencing of cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir from October 21, and vowed to take \"severe action\" against any elements involved in terrorist acts. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and new Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, during their first meeting, decided to give a fresh momentum for an \"an early and full\" normalisation of bilateral relations and agreed that the forces that have tried to derail the peace process must be \"defeated.\" Acknowledging that the peace process has been \"under strain\" in recent months, the two leaders unveiled a slew of measures for a \"peaceful resolution and satisfactory settlement\" of all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir. Meeting on the sidelines of the 63rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session at the Millenium hotel where the Pakistan President is staying, the two leaders issued a joint statement, saying that violence, hostility and terrorism have no place in the vision they share of the bilateral relationship and must be \"visibly and verifiably\" prevented. In an apparent attempt to tell India that let bygones be bygones in the backdrop of rise in cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations, Zardari reassured Singh that the Pakistan government stood by its commitments of January 6, 2004 to stamp out terrorism. With the needle of suspicion pointing to Pakistan\'s ISI for the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, the two leaders agreed to convene a special meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism next month to address mutual concerns including the Kabul attack.

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