NEW DELHI -- The top security officials from India and Pakistan held bilateral talks in Thailand's capital on Sunday, signalling a resumption of the rival countries' on-again, off-again peace dialogue.
The national security advisers of the South Asian neighbours held talks covering peace and security, terrorism, the disputed region of Kashmir and ways to maintain peace along the countries' shared border, according to a joint statement issued in New Delhi and Islamabad.
The meeting, which also included the nations' foreign secretaries, marks a thaw in the recent frostiness that had crept into bilateral relations. Talks between the two national security advisers were called off in August after both sides differed on the agenda for discussions.
The statement said Sunday's meeting in Bangkok was held in a "candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere."
"It was agreed to carry forward the constructive engagement" between the two countries, it said.
This past week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, had an unscheduled meeting at the Paris climate change talks.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is expected to visit Pakistan over the next few days, said a ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Since independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, the Himalayan region that both claim in its entirety.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the violence.
