Nuclear-armed arch rivals Pakistan and India will meet for talks in New Delhi on Feb. 25, in the first high-level official dialogue between the two countries since the 2008 attacks on Mumbai ended a four-year-old peace process.

India blamed the attacks, which killed 165 people, on Pakistan-based militants. But despite a lack of progress by Pakistan in either prosecuting suspects or dismantling the extremist group Lashkar-i-Taiba, the Delhi government proposed a resumption of talks this month between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and his Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir.

The United States has urged the two nations to restart talks, in hopes that improved relations between India and Pakistan will help stabilize the region, especially Afghanistan, where the neighbors have been competing for influence.

The Obama administration has argued that if tensions between Pakistan and India ease, Islamabad will be able to move some troops away from its border with India. Pakistan could then focus on fighting Taliban militants along the Afghan border.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they were created in the partition of British India in 1947. The Kashmir region, which is claimed by both, is at the heart of their mutual acrimony.