Kashmiris from both zones meet in Nepal

Leaders of the moderate wing of the main separatist alliance Hurriyat, politicians, former ambassadors and rights activists from India and Pakistan were among at least 25 people participating in the three-day conference to boost ties between the rivals.

"Kashmiri leaders from both India and Pakistan, including some Hurriyat leaders, ex-bureaucrats and scholars have been meeting in Kathmandu since Saturday to help build confidence and good rapport between India and Pakistan," the official who declined to be named said.

The three-day conference was organised by the Geneva-based International Pugwash Foundation and ends Monday. Pugwash holds conferences around the world to seek solutions to global problems.

The aim of the meet was to bring together people from India and Pakistan and provide them with a platform to discuss the long-standing dispute over Kashmir.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan both claim the scenic Himalayan region, which has been the trigger for two of the three wars between them since 1947.

India accuses Pakistan of stoking an Islamic militancy in Indian-administered Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.

About 40,000 people have been killed in violence since the outbreak of the Islamic militancy in 1989 by official count. Separatists put the toll at twice that number.

India and Pakistan are in the midst of a peace process aimed at resolving decades of differences over Kashmir after coming to the brink of their fourth war in 2002.

Meanwhile, nuclear-armed Pakistan and India are due to meet in Islamabad next week to discuss a possible agreement on giving advance notice to each other before conducting missile tests, foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday.

The expert-level talks on confidence building measures (CBMs) will be held December 14-15 in Islamabad, foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told AFP.