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Global

India, Pakistan talks start amid muted hopes


    NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The top diplomats of India and Pakistan began on Thursday their first official talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but hopes of progress remain limited as the rival neighbours seek to end a diplomatic freeze.

    Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao began their talks at a colonial mansion in a heavily-guarded New Delhi neighbourhood that also houses the parliament and the presidential palace.

    A positive outcome could help reduce tensions between the two countries whose rivalry spills over into Afghanistan and complicates U.S.-backed efforts to stabilise the region.

    (Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee)