India, Pakistan agree to discuss terrorism

UFA , Russia, July 10 (UPI) -- In a rare thaw in relations, India and Pakistan agreed Friday to discuss methods of stopping terrorism in and between their countries.

A statement which included a promise that each country's national security advisers would meet "to discuss all issues connected to terror," came after a side negotiation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a conference in Ufa, Russia, of the Shanghai Cooperative Organization.

The agreement is regarded as a small breakthrough in relations between two adjoining nations with an ongoing enmity.

Modi and Sharif also agreed to discuss methods to expedite a Pakistan trial of two men accused of a 2008 attack in Mumbai, India which killed 166 people, the statement said. India claims the attack was the responsibility of a militant group with ties to Pakistan's intelligence services.

The incremental steps between two nuclear-equipped rivals was welcomed by U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby, who said it was in no one's interest " for the tensions in the region to become less stable in many ways than they already are."