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India and Pakistan on Friday agreed to carry forward the dialogue process initiated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf at Agra.
The decision was taken at an hour-long meeting between Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer and her Pakistani counterpart Inamul Haq, the first high-level interaction between the two sides after the July summit ended in a stalemate.
Emerging from the meeting, Iyer said they had 'a very useful exchange of views on various aspects of the bilateral relationship. We are confident that the (dialogue) process would continue'.
Iyer said impediments in the relationship between the two countries also figured during the talks held on the sidelines of a conclave of the standing committee of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
"We also talked about the confidence building measures that India had suggested before the Agra summit," she said adding "Both sides felt that there is a need to build up the bilateral relationship."
Haq said the talks were held in a friendly atmosphere.
"We agreed that the process that began in Agra should be continued and today's meeting is a step in that direction," he said.
Besides Iyer, the Indian delegation at the talks constituted Joint Secretary Arun Singh and director in the foreign secretary's office Gautam H Bambawale.
The Pakistani foreign secretary was assisted by Director General (South Asia) Rashid Alam Khan and the country's high commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashraf Qureshi, official sources said.
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