India and Pakistan hold their first official talks for 14 months today, seeking to put their volatile relationship back on a stable track after it was derailed by the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
There were few expectations of a breakthrough in the day-long meeting between the Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, which was soured in advance by arguments over the agenda.
Just hours before Mr Bashir arrived in the Indian capital yesterday, Indian frontier guards said they had been fired on by Pakistani troops across the border.
"I'm not very optimistic," said the Indian home minister P Chidambaram, while another senior government official highlighted the "trust deficit" that lingered from the Mumbai siege that left 166 people dead.
But the mere fact that the nuclear-armed rivals were sitting down together at all marks a step forward, with the probable best-case scenario an agreement to keep on talking.
Experts say Washington played a key role in nudging the two neighbours back to the table in an effort to keep a lid on South Asian tensions as it presses more troops into its fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"It is good to be back," Mr Bashir said. "I have come here to bridge the differences (and) I am hopeful of a positive outcome."
India froze all dialogue after the Mumbai carnage 14 months ago in which 10 gunmen targeted multiple locations in the country's financial capital.
India blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants and said talks could only resume if Islamabad took concrete steps to bring those responsible to justice and cracked down on militant groups on its soil.
Top leaders from both countries have since met several times during regional conferences, but today's meeting marks the first real move towards normalisation.
New Delhi's offer earlier this month to bring the foreign secretaries together took many by surprise, but the government insisted that it did not represent a return to the comprehensive peace process suspended after Mumbai.
Speaking in London on Monday, Ms Rao said her meeting with Mr Bashir was aimed at finding a way back, "in a graduated manner," to a "serious and responsive" dialogue.
"It is our core concerns about terrorism that we find the essential focus for the discussions," Ms Rao said, adding that effective Pakistani action against militant groups remained an "absolute must" if normalisation was to proceed.
Pakistan has balked at the Indian emphasis on terror and made it clear that all issues should be up for discussion, including the seemingly intractable dispute over Muslim-majority Kashmir.
The Himalayan region is held in part by Pakistan and India, but claimed in full by both.
Mr Bashir met with senior Kashmiri separatist leaders yesterday, signalling Islamabad's intention of keeping Kashmir on the talks agenda.
The history of Indo-Pakistan dialogue is a long and patchy one, encompassing every form of contact from backdoor diplomacy to prime-ministerial summits.
The only common factor has been the glacial pace of tangible progress in resolving the core disputes between two countries who have fought three wars since independence in 1947 ? two of them over Kashmir.
The most productive round, according to India's former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh, was the comprehensive peace process ? known as the Composite Dialogue ? that was launched in 2004 and suspended after Mumbai.
"That was remarkable," said Mr Mansingh, listing "tangible dividends" in increased people-to-people contacts, a dip in violence in Kashmir and a pact to reduce the risk of a nuclear arms incident.
* AFP
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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Results
Women finals: 48kg - Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL) bt Distria Krasniqi (KOS); 52kg - Odette Guiffrida (ITA) bt Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS); 57kg - Nora Gjakova (KOS) bt Anastasiia Konkina (Rus)
Men’s finals: 60kg - Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) bt Francisco Garrigos (ESP); 66kg - Vazha Margvelashvili (Geo) bt Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ)
Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
Company%20Profile
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
THE%20SWIMMERS
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No_One Ever Really Dies
N*E*R*D
(I Am Other/Columbia)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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Forced%20Deportations
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Violence%20
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What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
UAE%20FIXTURES
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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