PAKISTAN ON MONDAY EXPRESSED DISAPPOINTMENT OVER INDIA'S DECISION TO POSTPONE ONGOING PEACE TALKS BETWEEN THE TWO SOUTH ASIAN RIVALS. "THIS IS A NEGATIVE DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE IT HAS INTERRUPTED THE ONGOING PEACE PROCESS," FOREIGN SECRETARY RIAZ MUHAMMAD KHAN TOLD A PRESS BRIEFING IN ISLAMABAD. THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE THE NATION NEWSPAPER QUOTED FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN TASNEEM ASLAM AS SAYING THAT INDIA FORMALLY CONVEYED THE DECISION TO PUT OFF THE FOREIGN SECRETARY LEVEL TALKS, WHICH WERE TO BE HELD IN NEW DELHI ON JULY 20-21. THE DECISION TO PUT OFF TALKS FOLLOWED REMARKS BY INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH AT A PRESS CONFERENCE IN NEW DELHI LAST FRIDAY THAT THE TERRORISTS BEHIND LAST WEEK'S SERIAL BOMBINGS IN MUMBAI HAD BEEN SUPPORTED BY ELEMENTS ACROSS THE BORDER. FOREIGN SECRETARY KHAN REMINDED INDIA THAT IN THEIR APRIL 18, 2005 JOINT DECLARATION, PRESIDENT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF AND INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH HAD AGREED NOT TO ALLOW THE PEACE PROCESS TO BE IMPEDED BY ACTS OF TERRORISM. HE ADDED THAT THE JOINT DECLARATION HAD ALSO DESCRIBED THE PEACE PROCESS AS IRREVERSIBLE. KHAN SAID THE PEACE TALKS WERE GOOD NOT ONLY FOR INDIA AND PAKISTAN BUT FOR THE REGION, ACCORDING TO A REPORT OF 'DPA' NEWS AGENCY. "I AM DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE I WAS ON MY WAY TO NEW DELHI TO DISCUSS THE THIRD ROUND OF THE COMPOSITE DIALOGUE, WHICH WAS TO BEGIN IN JANUARY 2007," KHAN SAID.
