Islamabad, Jan 05: Observing that "progress" has been made in relations between India and Pakistan after the meetings between the leaders of the two countries, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today did not rule out the possibility of more confidence building measures and hoped that the peace process would continue. Briefing reporters on the hour-long meeting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf this morning, Sinha said, "Both leaders welcomed the recent steps towards normalisation of relations between the two countries and expressed the hope that the process will continue.”

Asked whether the Vajapyee-Musharraf meeting was a "step forward" in Indo-Pak ties, he said, "the fact that the Prime Minister came to Islamabad to attend the SAARC summit, the fact that the Prime Minister met President Musharraf, that I have met my counterpart and the foreign secretaries have met, is progress." "Please look at it that way, I don not think there is any other way to describe it," he said.

Bureau Report