ISLAMABAD – The top diplomats of Pakistan and India held their first formal peace talks in two-and-a-half years with a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday to nudge forward the process that has proved slow-moving, at best. But after Thursday’s interaction, the mood on both the sides clearly showed that diplomats have discovered certain patches of common ground. Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir led Pakistani side while Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao led her delegation in the first round of foreign secretary-level talks, which lasted for over seven hours…

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India and Pakistan are often discussed in the context of geopolitical tension as the history surrounding these countries is both complex and, in some cases, rather troubling. That stated, these discussion provide some hope to those interested in world affairs that the differences between India and Pakistan can be resolved amicably. Hopefully these talks will garner benefits for the people of both Pakistan as well as India.

Meanwhile, this news comes upon the heels of recent projections by Citigroup showing that the Indian economy is poised for a great deal of economic expansion in the future. To provide further insight it is necessary to quote directly from a recent article written by Patrick Allen and posted to the official website of CNBC, CNBC.com:

In less than 40 years India will overtake the US as the world’s second-largest trading nation, pushing today’s superpower into third place and Europe in to the little leagues, according to a new report by Citi. “According to our projections, world trade in goods and services will grow from $37 trillion in 2010 to $149 trillion in 2030 and $371 trillion in 2050,” Citigroup’s William Buiter and Ebrahim Rahbari wrote in a research note released on Thursday. “But at least as interesting as the growth in world trade that we forecast are the changes in its composition that we expect over the course of the next four decades, with today’s emerging markets set to gain much more prominence in world trade relative to advanced economies,” they added.

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Although most commentators on geopolitics international economics look at China when discussing future economic expansion in Asia, the nations of both India and Pakistan should not be overlooked in such an analysis. Both of these countries have the potential for significant economic growth in the future. Those interested in such matters are encouraged to conduct further research to form a cogent opinion of these current events. Reader may note that India is one of the so-called BRICS countries. This grouping of nations has been in the media a great deal recently as circumstances develop therein.

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