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. India may resume talks with Pakistan after leaders meet: official
NEW DELHI, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2006
India may resume a stalled dialogue with Pakistan after leaders of the nuclear-armed rivals meet on the sidelines of an international summit in Cuba this month, India's top diplomat said Friday.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf are scheduled to meet in Havana during the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, outgoing foreign secretary Shyam Saran told reporters.

He said the resumption of high-level talks which New Delhi had called off in the wake of deadly bombings in Mumbai on July 11 would depend on the outcome of the Havana meeting.

"Yes, if the results of the summit meeting are satisfactory and we see there is willingness on part of Pakistan to work together with India to deal with what Pakistan itself says is a shared threat of terrorism," Saran said.

New Delhi had pointed the finger at Islamabad and a Pakistan-backed Islamic rebel group for the blasts which killed 183 people and wounded more than 800.

"Unless the issue of terrorism is addressed (by Pakistan) in a substantive way, it will be difficult to ensure the success of the dialogue process," Saran said.

The rivals had completed three rounds of talks when Delhi abruptly suspended the dialogue after the Mumbai blasts.

India accuses Pakistan of training, arming and funding an Islamic insurgency in Kashmir. Pakistan denies the charge.

Kashmir -- divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in its entirety by both -- has been the trigger for two of their three wars since 1947.

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