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India, Pakistan officials meet

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI Dec. 23. The Joint Secretary (Pakistan), Arun Singh, conveyed India's concerns about the upkeep of Sikh ``gurdwaras'' in Pakistan to Islamabad's Charge d'Affaires, Jalil Abbas Jilani, today.

The Foreign Office spokesman told presspersons after the meeting that the issue of poor maintenance of the ``gurdwaras'' was brought to the Government's attention by Sikh pilgrims who had gone to Pakistan for Guru Nanak's birthday in November. Asked if other issues had been discussed, he said ``house-keeping'' matters such as visas and detention of fishermen also figured.

There was some discussion on the exchange of fishermen, who were routinely detained by both Pakistan and India when they strayed into the territorial waters of the other country. Many of them had to spend years in detention even after they were released for travelling without proper documents. Given the fact that Indian and Pakistani ``contact'' in recent times was in the nature of ``summons'' by one side or the other, a ``normal discussion'' at diplomatic levels is a welcome development.

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