Home Minister P Chidambaram

New Delhi: Indicating thaw in relations with Pakistan, India has proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries.

According to sources, the issue of counter terrorism and any other matter that could contribute to create an atmosphere of peace and security between the two countries will be raised.

The sources told that India will enter into the discussions with an open and positive mind and will raise all relevant issues. The sources also said that the outcome of the proposed meeting, should not be pre-judged.

The External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had earlier said that any step forward in the direction of investigating the Mumbai attack by Isalamabad will make it easier to carry out normalisation of business with Pakistan.

The offer for Foreign Secretary-level talks comes ahead of the Home Minister P Chidambaram's visit to represent India at the SAARC Interior Ministers' Conference to be held in Rawalpindi from the 26th of this month. This will be the first high-level visit from India since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. During his visit, Chidambaram is likely to have a bilateral meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik and some other leaders.

Mr. Krishna said that Mr. Chidambaram's visit will provide a chance for useful exchanges with Pakistani leaders, in addition to the planned multi-lateral parleys of the regional body.

Pakistan today said, it would welcome any move to resume the composite dialogue process with India stalled since the Mumbai attacks. It insisted that the talks should be result-oriented and cover all outstanding issues.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while talking to Reuters said, Islamabad will welcome India's signal for holding bilateral talks, if it leads to the resumption of composite dialogue. India suspended official talks, on a range of issues, after Pakistan-based terrorists attacked Mumbai in November 2008.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told during news briefing that some proposals for the revival of the peace process were being considered but refused to give details

AIR correspondent Sarita Brara reports that the offer of talks by India comes at a time when Pakistan has produced evidence against terrorists including the LeT commander in a court in connection with the Mumbai terror attack.

The evidence was based on a series of dossiers provided by India to Pakistan. India has said that it will enter the talks with a positive and open minded does not want pre-judge the outcome of the talks.

It is, therefore, difficult to say at this moment whether the foreign secretaries meeting will lead to the resumption to the composite dialogue stalled after the Mumbai terror attack. But, the decision on the Home Minister's visit to Pakistan and now this initiative for talks can help break the ice between the two neighbors.