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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 06, 2004

India-Pakistan summit propels new hope for peace

China expresses welcome and appreciation for the India-Pakistan summit and the efforts made by leadership of the two countries to improve bilateral relations, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Monday in Beijing.


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Musharraf, Vajpayee hold talks
Indian and Pakistani leaders held their first direct talks Monday in Islamabad since nearly coming to war two years ago, infusing a major South Asian summit with hope that a half-century of venom between the uneasy neighbours might give way to rapprochement.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met President Pervez Musharraf and his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation gathering, trading in nuclear bravado for smiling photo-opportunities and a pledge to maintain the momentum of their nations?most promising meetings in two years.

China expresses welcome and appreciation for the India-Pakistan summit and the efforts made by leadership of the two countries to improve bilateral relations, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Monday.

As friend and neighbor of the two countries, Kong said, China wholeheartedly hopes India and Pakistan can maintain the momentum of detente and make concerted efforts for peace, stability and development in the region.

Such move "first meets the fundamental interests of India and Pakistan and also the expectation of the international community," said Kong.

Vajpayee called on moving forward, and leaving a bitter past behind.

"We must make a transition from mistrust to trust, from discord to concord and from tension to peace," Vajpayee said in a speech.

Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha characterized the talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali as a routine diplomatic courtesy call, distinguishing it from the launch of a comprehensive dialogue that Pakistan seeks on resolving long-standing disputes, especially the disputed Kashmir.

By People's Daily Online


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