New Delhi: India and Pakistan have agreed to hold three-day talks beginning February 16 in Islamabad to commence the process of composite dialogue.

The talks will first be held at the level of joint secretaries on February 16 and 17, followed by a one-day meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries on February 18, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna announced today (Jan 27, 2004).

A similar announcement was made by Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan in Islamabad.

Official sources in new Delhi said during the three-day talks, the two sides would discuss the modalities for the composite dialogue.

Ending more than two years of freeze in their bilateral talks, which had broken down at Agra, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had on January 6 in Islamabad decided to resume composite dialogue for peaceful settlement of all outstanding bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision was announced after Vajpayee had told the Pakistani President that violence, hostility and terrorism must be prevented in order to take forward and sustain the dialogue process.

Musharraf assured that he would not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism "in any manner".

Both the leaders had expressed the hope that the "positive trends" set by the recent confidence-building measures (CBMs) would be consolidated.

The Pakistani leader had emphasised that a sustained and productive dialogue addressing all issues would lead to positive results.

The two leaders had expressed confidence that resumption of composite dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides.

They had shared the view that constructive dialogue would promote progress towards the common objective of peace, security and economic development of the people of the two countries and for future generations.

The last composite dialogue held by the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries was interrupted in 1997 although the two countries had identified eight subjects including Jammu and Kashmir and confidence building measures. A subsequent effort at resolving disputes was made at the Agra summit in July 2001, which ended in failure.

Other issues identified by the two sides include peace and security, terrorism, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic commercial cooperation and art and cultural exchanges.