New Delhi, Feb 16: The European Union today welcomed the official level dialogue between India and Pakistan which commenced in Islamabad saying that even though no breakthrough can be achieved immediately it was the beginning of ''a process''. ''The international community should be patient for a positive outcome of the whole exercise,'' EU commissioner for external relations Chris Patten told a press conference here.
''The whole international community welcomes the peace initiative. The outside world should be patient. It is the beginning of a process. The issues involved are complex and difficult. No one expects a breathrough immediately. The international community is supportive of the move,'' Patten said in reply to a question.
Patten, who was on an official visit to participate in the India-EU Troika meeting in Delhi today, will go tonight to Afghanistan. Next week he will be in Pakistan.
The EU commissioner, during his visit, met the External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.
India and Pakistan this morning began three-day talks aimed at setting the agenda for the composite dialogue between the two neighbours for resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
Arun Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in the external affairs ministry, is heading the Indian delegation at the talks with his Pakistani counterpart Jaleel Abbas Jilani.
This will be followed by a one-day meeting between Foreign Secretary Shashank and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokar on Wednesday.
The talks are being held more than five years after the India-Pakistan dialogue process derailed following sharp differences on critical issues, including nuclear tests.
The decision by the two countries to revive composite dialogue to peacefully resolve their differences flows from the joint statement issued by them after the ice-breaking meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf here on January 5 on the sidelines of the Saarc summit. Bureau Report