Pakistan and India agree peace talks

Pakistan and India agreed today to hold a series of talks in coming weeks on issues including a dam being constructed in India’s portion of Kashmir that Pakistan says threatens the water supply on its side of the disputed border.

The talks will begin in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on July 28-29, when officials will discuss India’s Baglihar hydroelectric dam, under construction on the Chenab River in India’s Jammu-Kashmir state.

Pakistan says the dam will deprive its agricultural heartland in Kashmir and Punjab of much needed water.

Officials from the two countries will meet again in New Delhi on August 3-4 to discuss ways to build confidence after more than a half-century of mistrust.

On August 5-6, officials from the two nations will meet in New Delhi to discuss a lingering dispute over the world’s highest battleground, the Siachin glacier, which straddles the Himalayan mountains between Pakistani and Indian portions of Kashmir.

Despite a thaw in relations in recent months, both nations maintain forces on the frigid mountainside.

All of the issues are among a list of disputes between the nuclear-armed nations, many of which stretch back decades to their independence from Britain in 1947.

Officials have said they hope to work through the problems and eventually reach a final solution for the larger issue of Kashmir.