India and Pakistan ended Monday two days of foreign secretary level talks with positive messages.

During the talks, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, Shashank and Riaz Khokhar, discussed a wide range of issues, including terrorism, re-establishment of their consulates in Karachi and Mumbai and to take steps for the early release of civilian prisoners, confidence building measures (CBMs), and Kashmir.

The two nations decided to restore the strength of their missions in Islamabad and New Delhi to 110 and to free all fishermen held by them for violating territorial waters.

A joint statement issued here after the talks devoted exclusively to the Kashmir dispute said the foreign secretaries were hopeful that the composite dialogue process would lead to the peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides.

"They held detailed exchange of views on Kashmir and agreed to continue the sustained and serious dialogue to find a peaceful, negotiated final settlement," the statement said.

The joint statement reiterated that India and Pakistan's nuclear capabilities constituted a factor for stability and said the two sides had agreed to conclude an agreement on alerting each other about missile tests.

The statement said that the confidence building measures (CBMs) would be discussed further but did not provide any details.

However, the two sides Sunday proposed a wide array of military CBMs to boost peace and security along the Line of Control in Kashmir.

The foreign secretaries decided that talks on six other matters included in the composite dialogue process, the military standoff on Siachen, the Wullar barrage/TulBul navigation project, the Sir Creek dispute, economic cooperation, terrorism and drug trafficking and friendly exchanges, would be held between the third week of July and the first week of August.

The foreign secretary-level talks that concluded Monday is but one of 14 separate rounds of talks the two nations are preparing on various aspects of bilateral relations as part of a composite dialogue process to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.

A week ago the two nations agreed to set up a telephone hotline to alert each other of potential nuclear risks and prevent misunderstandings.

Ever since the division of the sub-continent in 1947, India and Pakistan have been arch rivals. After coming close to war over Kashmir in 2002, the two neighbors have slowly built ties. Relations between the two countries have been improving since last year.

Source: Xinhua