Officials from Pakistan and India ended their first round of talks Saturday night on opening the de facto border in the Kashmir region and agreed to meet again. "We will hold another round of talks," foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said, but did not say when. She told DPA that the Indian negotiators had gone to their high commission (embassy) for consultations. The talks between the two South Asian neighbours came amid repeated urgings from the United Nations to speed up efforts to help quake-hit victims in the disputed Kashmir region. Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf proposed on October 18 opening the Line of Control, which divides the Himalayan state between Pakistan and India. The 7.6 magnitude quake on October 8 wreaked havoc in Kashmir, killing over 55,000 people in the Pakistan-administered region alone, with the count still rising. The Islamabad talks were called to discuss modalities of Pakistan's proposal for opening five points along the LOC for two-way travel to help the Kashmiri people. Pakistan has already set up relief centres at the proposed sites. India has proposed three medical centres on its side of the de facto border that will allow people from the Pakistani side to receive medical assistance and return home. The U.N. call amid slow progress in getting relief to thousands of people in remote areas were access is limited to helicopters.
