Foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India to meet on August 25

Indian Foreign Secretary raises issue of cross-border firing, says it impedes the positive work leaders wished to do.

ISLAMABAD: The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are set to meet in Islamabad next month in the neighbouring countries' latest attempt at improving ties.

The proposed meeting, announced by Pakistan's foreign office on Wednesday, comes after Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi following the Hindu hard-liner's inauguration in May.

"Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh spoke to her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry over the telephone this afternoon and... it was agreed that the two foreign secretaries would meet in Islamabad on August 25 to carry forward the dialogue process," the ministry said in a statement.

"In keeping with the vision of the two Prime Ministers to improve and establish good neighbourly relations, the foreign secretaries agreed that the dialogue process between the two countries should be result-oriented," it added.

However, statements from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs attributed to their Foreign Secretary brought up the matter of cross-border firing.

Cooperation between r 2 countries cannot take place alongside violence & sounds of bullets on border -Foreign Secy Singh to Pak counterpart

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 23, 2014

Singh said that the border incidents would "impede positive work that our leaders wish to undertake."

Foreign Secy Singh to Pak counterpart on firing - Incidents of this nature will impede positive work that r leaders wish to undertake

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 23, 2014

Bilateral relations had broken down after attacks on India's commercial hub Mumbai in 2008, in which 166 people were killed, though relations have recovered slightly since then.

An unresolved territorial dispute over Kashmir in the Himalayan region is also a source of ongoing tension, while Pakistan accuses India of fomenting a separatist insurgency in its southwestern province of Balochistan.

Trade between the two countries is presently around $2.5 billion, with Indian exports accounting for the majority.

Pakistani business leaders believe greater trade would be a major boon to their stuttering economy.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947, as well as a smaller conflict in 1999 when Modi's party was last in office at the national level and Sharif was in power during a previous stint as premier.