India in bid to mend relations with Pakistan

INDIA unveiled unprecedented proposals to normalise relations with rival Pakistan yesterday, offering to talk with separatist politicians in Kashmir and giving new hope to families divided by five decades of conflict.

But Pakistan said it was disappointed India did not include an offer to negotiate directly with Islamabad over the fate of Kashmir, the Himalayan territory divided between the two South Asian rivals and claimed by both.

The Indian proposals announced by Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha include talks on resuming air and rail links and the new ambition of running buses between the capitals of divided Kashmir.