DHAKA, Nov 13: India and Pakistan exchanged tough words on Sunday over a slow-moving peace process, casting a chill on attempts to end decades of rivalry and renewing doubts about any rapprochement.

The diplomatic tussle between the nuclear neighbours came as a two-day summit of South Asian nations ended here raising fresh questions over whether the group would be able to overcome differences between its two biggest members.

“There is clearly a trust deficit between the two countries,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters as the meeting of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) drew to a close.

He said that as far as Pakistan was concerned, the core dispute with India was over Kashmir.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quick to respond, agreeing about the lack of trust between the two countries and claiming that Pakistan had failed to live up to its obligations to end violence in India by militants.

“There has been some reduction but unfortunately it is our feeling that all that needs to be done has not been done,” he told reporters. “We have ... assurances that the future will be different from the past and we eagerly await for that to happen.”

He said the two sides needed to build up trust.

“Using harsh language in public is not the best way to promote dialogue and understanding,” Mr Singh said referring to India-Pakistan peace moves. “I don’t think anything great is achieved by conducting this dialogue in full glare of the public.”

He reiterated that investigations into a series of bomb blasts in New Delhi last month, which killed 66 people, had shown the attackers had “external linkages”. Indian police suspect the bombs were the handiwork of Pakistan-based militants.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the tensions between India and Pakistan were the main reason for Saarc’s failure to achieve more.

“Saarc is mired in conflict, you cannot deny it,” he said. “The truth is we need to take issues head-on and come up with solutions, whether it’s Pakistan-India or any other countries in the region.”

He added that Pakistan saw a lack of trust in ties with India despite a year and a half of peace talks, although regular meetings between the two sides are helping remove misgivings.

“There is clearly a trust deficit between the two countries,” Aziz told reporters at the end of summit.

He said as far as Pakistan was concerned, the core issue with India was the dispute over Kashmir.

“We must make progress on Kashmir and then we can move in parallel on other issues. We do not subscribe to the view that let’s do everything else and Kashmir will resolve itself.

“For sustainable peace, we must address Kashmir.”

Mr Aziz said the tensions between India and Pakistan were the main reason for the lack of progress by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) since its inception 20 years ago.

“Saarc is mired in conflict, you cannot deny it,” he said. “The truth is we need to take issues head-on and come up with solutions, whether it’s Pakistan-India or any other countries in the region.”

Nevertheless, Mr Aziz said his talks with Mr Singh were productive because keeping the dialogue going was a bonus.

“The India-Pakistan relationship is such that any extent of dialogue and discussion can only help,” he said. “This was another step in the right direction.

“I hope that by actions of both countries the trust deficit will gradually be chipped away.”—Reuters