There''s no breakthrough: Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries meet in Bhutan

The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan have met in the Bhutanese capital, but failed to set any dates for the resumption of peace talks between the hostile neighbours. The peace talks have been stalled since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based insurgents.
The two sides had been expected to firm up the dates for a proposed meeting between their foreign ministers in the Indian capital.
Vishnu Prakash, the Indian external affairs ministry spokesman, said that India''s foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir met Sunday for ``useful and frank discussions.''''
Rao and Bashir met in Thimphu on the sidelines of a meeting of the South Asian regional grouping set up in 1985 to promote trade and economic co-operation.
"Dialogue between India and Pakistan is necessary and a must if we are to satisfactorily resolve the outstanding issues between our two countries," Rao was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency before Sunday''s meeting.
"We have a number of outstanding issues. So we are going into this with an open mind and constructive attitude."
PTI quoted Bashir as saying that the talks on Sunday would focus on making progress towards another meeting between the countries'' foreign ministers.
"My expectations are that we should be working towards continued engagement," he said.
APP adds: Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan in a meeting here in Bhutan on Sunday night agreed on the need for a constructive dialogue between the two countries to resolve all outstanding issues.
Pakistan''s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and India''s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao affirmed the need to carry out forward the dialogue process.
According to a press release, the meeting was held in "pursuance of the mandate given by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan, following their meeting in Thimphu in April 2010, and the meeting of the Minister of External Affairs of India and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan in July, 2010."
The Foreign Secretaries had useful and frank discussions on the steps required to be taken for further talks.
Salman Bashir was assisted in the talks by Pakistan''s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik.
The Foreign Secretaries who were in Thimphu to attend the SAARC Foreign Secretaries'' meeting, will brief their respective governments on their discussion.