Pakistan and India Saturday put forward their respective proposals to resolve the Sir Creek estuary dispute at the end of the first day of their two-day talks here.
 
A Pakistani official said: "Both sides exchanged some proposals."

A joint press statement is expected to be issued Sunday at the end of the talks.

Rear Admiral Ahsanul Haq, Pakistan's additional secretary of defence, led his country at the talks while Surveyor-General Maj. Gen. Gopal Rao led the Indian team.

Before the talks, Haq said: "We are hopeful and going into talks with a positive attitude and an open mind and open heart."

Agreeing with Haq, Rao said: "We have come here to resolve the issues."

The last round of talks on Sir Creek - which borders India's Gujarat state and Pakistan's Sindh province - was held in Delhi in August 2004 and ended without any agreement.

"Let's hope for the best," said Rao, in reply to a query whether they were aiming at an agreement "to continue the talks."

The talks, part of the composite bilateral dialogue, were held a day after the defence secretaries of both countries failed to reach an agreement on demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier - the highest battlefield in the world. However, they agreed to continue talking.

In January this year Pakistan and India completed a joint survey on the Sir Creek boundary pillars. Eight teams each from Pakistan and India had participated in the first such survey of the disputed boundary.

A Pakistani official said that the meeting would look into the survey report and may present some proposals.

"We are not going into talks with any fixations...but would listen to them and speak out our mind," said Haq.

The dates for the talks were set when President Pervez Musharraf met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his trip to New Delhi last month to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match.

The April 18 joint statement by Musharraf and Singh had also proposed a meeting between their petroleum ministers to explore cooperation in the oil sector, including the issue of the Iran gas pipelines.

The petroleum ministers of the two countries are meeting here next week.

Since the joint statement had clearly referred to 'pipelines', in the plural, the petroleum ministers are expected to consider other options along with the Iranian project over which the US has expressed reservations although both countries deny any pressure in this regard.

Sources said these meetings would help prepare the ground for a review of key issues between Indian and Pakistani leaders when they meet in Dhaka on the sidelines of the next summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).